The Coming Internet Depression Why the High-Tech Boom Will Go Bust, Why the Crash Will Be Worse Than You Think, and How to Prosper Afterwards

Will today's high tech economy burst in the near future, prompting a 1929-like depression? Mandel, an economics editor at Business Week, believes so. In this forecast-cum-investment guide, he declares that this narrow sector has heated up because of infusions of venture capital into new companies, huge increases in employment in the high tech sector and high investor expectations. However, according to Mandel, ""there's a catch. Investors are not just betting on the profits from today's companies selling today's products and services. If they were, they wouldn't be willing to give enormous market values to companies that have no way of showing a profit. Instead, they bet on companies that have not yet been created, and innovations that have not yet been conceived of."" If these expectations are punctured, America could face a massive depression with record-setting unemployment and a dramatic stock market plunge. But if individuals create sound financial plans to adjust for potential loss of income and if the government steps inDchanging interest rates or monitoring the stock marketDthen the depression will not be debilitating. Mandel's explanations of the differences between today's economy and that of 1929, and his description of how the U.S. economy differs from that in other countries, are informative and convincing. Although it concerns a much narrower market sector than Ron Insana's The Message of the Markets and Ralph Acampora's The 4th Mega-Market, and while many investors will resist Mandel's gloomy predictions, his message is likely to get media play due to the recent setbacks at many Internet companies. Additionally, amateur investors will appreciate the book's practical investing strategies. (Nov.)