Hi,

I requested your book as a Fathers day present (now that is that tragic or what). I’m now half way through on the second reading, I’ll need a third as my lips keep moving as I’m reading. I’ll re-iterate what your review by Marc Faber stated, “If you only ever want to read one finance book, make this the one”.

I’ve found it to be a highly entertaining and exceptionally well researched series of top yarns. Brilliant.

Best Regards,
IJ
IFE, Connectivity & Cabin Electronics.
Qantas Supply Chain, SDC/1

Thanks very much to IJ! Just what an author likes to hear.

I noticed some patterns in our reader responses and drew the following conclusions:

1. The anything-goes-free traders (that is, the people who confuse freedom with license) criticize us for deviating from the party line. The party line is that all so-called free trade is always wonderful and really is free (which it isn’t – it’s mostly managed).

2. The traditionalist/conservative, pro-war crowd hates our Bush/Iraq War-bashing (especially what they think is mine, but is mostly Bill’s, but how dare I, a brown foreigner, and female to boot, be part of it). But it likes (sneakingly) the part about the financialization of the US economy, because it sounds nativist, or at least, protectionist (which it isn’t).

3. The liberal-to-left crowd likes the book generally, until it comes to the gold-bug part – which it thinks is pure la-la land. When it comes to the individualist pro-capitalist part, it thinks it’s pure drivel.

4. Everyone likes the Friedman bashing, and is happy to admit it.. Everyone likes the Greenspan bashing, but is afraid to admit it.
5. The right thinks you should bash Mao and communism and avoid bringing up the American empire. The left thinks exactly the opposite.

Westerners, left or right, don’t really want any British empire-bashing, unless they are Irish or German. Easterners can’t have enough of it, but want to stir in Christianity and Caucasians into the mix.

6. The only evil empires are other people’s.

7. The left likes the most- CEOs- are-not-worth-their salaries angle and the let-them-eat-cake stories about hedge fund managers. But it hates any criticism of the unwashed (and washed) masses.

8. You can criticize Malcolm Gladwell. You can’t touch James Surowiecki.

9. Ron Paul is not crazy. Even the New York Times says so, but that doesn’t mean anyone should let him win.

10. If you use literate language, you are pompous. A big word in Bush-land is anything involving more than two syllables. French phrases should be translated into English. Latin phrases should be translated into English. English phrases should be translated into American.