Michael J. Panzner
When Giants Fall
An Economic Roadmap for the End of the American Era
Wiley, 2009
What's inside?
Why America will dwindle, who will benefit from it and how you can survive.
Recommendation
Books about the future usually mix and match four broad categories: The present is great or awful, and the future will be great or awful. This book builds on the awful end of today’s economic problems. Michael J. Panzner reinforces the seesawing anxiety some people already feel about America and the future by contending that these dreary times will almost certainly worsen. People have been selling books about America’s demise for decades and maybe one of them will be right someday, but this one is pretty dire. getAbstract admires Panzner’s diligence and hard work, but notes that he offers few, if any, mitigating beds of roses to brighten his forecast. Instead, he blends generally negative economic, ecological, demographic and geopolitical news to project a downward trend that would scare even the most daredevil economic rollercoaster rider. Trends that harm America are likely to injure many other nations also, so some positive, mutual pushback seems inevitable, though Panzner cites instead how other nations would benefit from a weaker U.S. Given the reporting on negative trends and dangers he amasses to explain his pessimism, it would be no wonder if Panzner is depressed. If he’s right, there will be plenty of depression to go around.
Summary
About the Author
Michael J. Panzner has worked for 25 years for major firms, such as HSBC, Soros Funds, ABN AMRO and others, in the New York and London stock markets. He is a faculty member at the FT Knowledge/New York Institute of Finance. He is also the author of Financial Armageddon.
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