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Book Review: by Lang Reid
Contagion
 John
R. Talbott appears to have made quite a name for himself writing predictive
books, and if Contagion (ISBN 978-0-470-44221-0, John Wiley and Sons, 2009)
is correct with what is unfolding (and it’s not one hundred dollar bills),
this book has information of vital interest. Not only does the cover promise
information on the financial epidemic (hence the name ‘Contagion’) but also
how to protect yourself from it.
Apparently, John R. Talbott used to be an investment banker, so I would
imagine he is rather happy that he left Wall Street. As the popular joke now
goes “What do you say to an investment banker? A quarter pounder and fries
to go…!”
Author Talbott states very clearly in the preface, that “A primary cause of
the entire financial crisis today is due to the corruption and lies that
were allowed to enter the sacred halls of our government.”
If that isn’t strong enough indictment for you, a couple of pages further on
he writes, “Since then, trading and principal investing has turned Wall
Street into a den of whores.”
Talbott lays the blame fair and square on government backed deregulation, in
return for election hand-outs. He states, “Although the country is spending
trillions of dollars on national defense, few people realize that very
little of this money ends up in the hands of the dedicated forces and their
families, but a great deal is spent with the defense companies building new
weapons systems, the privatization of the military, and the reconstruction
efforts through private business of countries destabilized through US
bombing. Halliburton’s stock has risen some 700 percent since the beginning
of the war in Iraq, due to its no-bid contract there and in New Orleans
after Katrina.”
He does show decided leanings towards the Democrat side of US politics, as
opposed to Republicanism, and is not shy of lambasting the Bush
administration.
By page 164, the reader has become better educated as to the reasons for the
US’ fall from grace, and just how the absurdly named Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac became government pawns on the financial chessboard.
Chapter 13 (as opposed to the US Chapter 11 provisions) discusses which
investments and which countries will weather the storm the best. Hedge funds
are not recommended because, “Regulatory reform will force them to become
more transparent and that transparency will force them to make money the old
fashioned way, honestly.”
The country to invest in? No brainer really, China. “If I wanted to make a
long-term investment in this global market facing this economic crisis, I
would put my money in China at current stock price levels.”
His précis of the chapter is “cash is king, TIPS (Treasury
Inflation-Protected Securities), gold and China.”
He later states that to stop a recurrence of today’s problems, corporations
have to be prohibited from participation in politics and government. I think
I would agree!
The review book came direct from John Wiley and Sons, publishers, and is for
sale through Amazon if you cannot source it locally. As a non-stocks and
shares person, I found it a fascinating insight to the world I never
understood.
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