Money

April 28, 2014
Forbes and Ames have previously coauthored books on capitalism (How Capitalism Will Save Us) and freedom (Freedom Manifesto) to pitch free market and libertarian views. Here they take aim at central bank policies that “reflect the political whims of government” and damage markets by “sending false signals.” Alarmed by a “fiat money” system, monetary expansion, and the possible destruction of the dollar, they advocate returning to a gold standard. Only a gold-based currency, they suggest, promises stability and an end to the injurious speculative volatility of the past 40 years. Forbes and Ames’s case can be persuasive, especially on “stimulus” and inflationary risk. Forbes, publisher and former presidential candidate, can deliver a large and enthusiastic audience; his decades-old idea of a flat tax remains popular. Anxious “gold bugs” are likely to eagerly seize the authors’ propositions. But barring apocalyptic events and world economic collapse, reactivating the gold standard remains unlikely in the near future; the Federal Reserve System and sovereign currencies seem here to stay. Forbes and Ames’s solutions will convince few political economists or bankers to change their minds, but they might respond that this is the heart of the problem. Agent: Jim Hornfischer, Hornfischer Literary Management.

June 1, 2014
Multimillionaire Forbes and previous co-author Ames (Freedom Manifesto: Why Free Markets Are Moral and Big Government Isn't, 2012, etc.) argue that a monetary system based on a sound and stable currency is "our best hope of finally achieving a genuine recovery."Ever since the United States abandoned the gold standard more than 40 years ago, the value of the dollar has been at the mercy of the Federal Reserve and other central banks whose policies reflect the political whims of governments. The result-a weakened dollar-has slowly destroyed wealth, destabilized the global economy and caused a host of problems, from the subprime bubble to high food and fuel prices to declining mobility and higher unemployment. Yet many in the policy establishment who are "steeped in the superstitions of Keynesian/monetarist dogma" refuse to consider the idea of a return to the gold standard out of a misplaced fear that gold would mean a "rigidly fixed money supply." In fact, the authors write, "gold is far more flexible than people generally acknowledge." Aiming to demystify the subject of money to help spur debate and a return to the gold standard, they offer lucid discussions of the role of money (as a means of measurement, trust and communication), the critical need for a stable monetary value, and how any artificial manipulation of currency values can produce adverse social consequences. "When money becomes unstable, trust unravels," they note, pointing to historical ties between inflation and higher rates of crime, corruption and unrest. A return to sound money will usher in long-term growth to the benefit of both the U.S. and the global economy.A brief, straightforward, decent case for returning the dollar to the gold standard, sure to attract opposing arguments.

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July 1, 2014

Coauthors Forbes, chairman and editor in chief of Forbes Media, and Ames, a communications executive, previously collaborated on How Capitalism will Save Us and Freedom Manifesto. Here, they argue that the U.S. dollar needs to be strengthened by returning to a gold standard. The authors write that the current Federal Reserve policy based upon Keynesian economics weakens the dollar without stimulating the economy in any lasting manner. They propose to establish by law a set ratio between gold and the U.S. dollar to create a stable yardstick of value that will instill trust in the currency. Forbes and Ames argue that this will alleviate a host of ills including government overspending, inflation, high interest rates, crime, speculative trading, and a chaotic economy in general. They also include advice for investors trying to cope in the current economic environment. Clearly, this book is a partisan polemic in favor of putting the dollar back on the gold standard while discounting possible pitfalls of that action, but the authors write intelligibly for a general audience and make a persuasive case on the dangers of inflation and a weak currency. VERDICT While this work will certainly resonate with "gold bugs" and others suspicious of the Federal Reserve, it also offers thoughtful reading for anyone concerned about today's economic malaise.--Lawrence Maxted, Gannon Univ. Lib., Erie, PA

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