Congressional Letter

An Open Letter To Senators and Members of The House

“Ben Bernanke is going to have a challenge,” said Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel-prize winning economist at Columbia University in a recent interrview. “He’s inheriting an economy that has some fragility going forward. The high level of debt, rising interest rates, problems of oil – all of this means he is going to have to manage the economy in a very difficult situation.”

Really. Good thing Bernanke is lily footing his way around the Senate then, huh? Yesterday he promised to “maintain continuity with the policies and policy strategies established during the Greenspan years.” Bravo. Can’t wait.

For our part in the circus, we sent – as we’ve been threatening to do – 537 copies of our new book Empire of Debt to all the Senators. And their cohorts across the rotunda. And the Commander-in-Chief down the street.

The cover letter we sent with the book suggested that continuing the policies of Alan Greenspan, while it might be what the country wants, is not likely to yield the desired result.  Please read below…

Empire of Debt is a wakeup call – as well as a call to arms for every American. “Although the authors don’t claim to have a crystal ball,” writes Doug Casey, chairman of Casey Research, “as far as I’m concerned they offer as clear and likely accurate a view of the future as you’re going to find.”

It’s a shame, that the average person in the Western world, and especially the United States, will never read Empire of Debt,” agrees best-selling author Robert Ringer, (Action! Nothing Happens Until Something Moves). “It is one of the most well-written, concise, candid and informative books” on the subject.

“Trust me when I tell you,” says Richard Daughty of the Mogambo Guru economic newsletter, “this is a book you want to own.”

Learn more about the Empire of Debt

Title: Empire of Debt: The Rise Of An Epic Financial Crisis
Authors: Bill Bonner, Addison Wiggin
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publication Date: November 2005
ISBN: 0-471-73902-2

What readers are saying:

“En Vino Veritas?”

I read this tag team of financial prognisticators’ first book, Financial Reckoning Day, and LOVED it. Well, loved it in the way you can love a book that tells you history is all for naught and the financial world as we know it is coming to an end (at least they smiled when they said that, in a bemused kind of way).

But it’s my understanding these guys wrote that book and some of this one while over in France (they’re also the team behind the Daily Reckoning ezine, which I also read). There must be something in the wine over there that makes you see a little more deeply into things than most are prone to here in the States. Or maybe it’s the distance from their homeland (they’re both American) that gives them perspective.

Because I found Empire of Debt, which I just got and finished, nearly as eye-opening as the discussion they’d already started in the last book. In short, easy credit and wild spending will get us in the end. Already, it’s nipping at our heels. Even while most of us, right on up to the powers that be — who should be exercising a little more caution, but instead happen to be the worse over-spenders of them all — refuse to pay attention to the message.

But it’s there in the history books. And it’s in this one, which you could call a kind of history lesson as much as you could call it a forecast for things to come. Great material and well done. Definitely worth a read for anyone (smart) who cares about the future of the world economy.

Jack T. (Philadelphia, PA)
November 10, 2005

“Straight Talk From The Daily Reckoning Duo”

Straight talk. That’s what this follow up to Financial Reckoning Day is all about. Most people don’t like to hear bad news… they can’t handle life’s economic truths… especially during the time of a bubble. Most would rather live in denial and be secure in their warm falsehoods, such as: real estate will only go up, stocks will only rise and inflation will remain stagnant. But authors Bonner and Wiggin shine a light on the nation’s economy that is rarely seen in today’s media. They expose the delusions our government is operating under and explain how it will erode your portfolio – unless immediate action is taken.

Empire of Debt is best described as ironically humorous… scornful… mocking… its conclusions are based in historical reasoning which read in a clear and consistent manner. Look at this exchange from the book:

“What should an investor do to protect himself,” our friend asked.

“Buy gold.”

“Gold? What a strange idea. I haven’t heard anyone mention gold in many years. It seems so out-of-date. I didn’t think anyone bought gold anymore.”

“That’s why you should buy it.”

It’s clear thinking like this that you don’t find today… (unless you subscribe to their e-letter called The Daily Reckoning – it’s written in the same vein.) Empire of Debt is a wry pleasure to read. I recommend this book highly.

P. Delong (San Francisco, CA)
November 14, 2005

“The New Financial Reality Defined…A Wake Up Call for Washington and You!”Once again my favorite financial dynamic duo Bonner and Wiggin team up to expose the raw and gritty undebelly of politics and economics and how they operate in the United States. Using their usual good humor and sarcastic tone, similar to their commentary in the Daily Reckoning, the reader is given the cold hard facts about the true state of the economy. Empire of Debt does this in a no nonsense manner, no fluff here, no handholidng just the facts! Empire of Debtis filled with chilling information that wakes the reader up from the hallucination of the belief in economic bliss and visions of a never ending credit and borrowing.

The book illustrates a principal that is vital to me, how investors today must think out of the box using things like gold to hedge their portfolios for the coming implosion. Empire of Debt sends a stern message to investors, BEWARE! With any luck on his way out the door to go fishing Mr. Greenspan will leave a copy of this book and a goodbye note for Mr. Bernanke on his first day in office, more importantly I hope Mr. Bernanke reads the book. Cheers for Bonner and Wiggin “Empire of Debt” kept me riveted hoping for the happy ending that never came.

Maniac Trader (New York, NY)
November 16, 2005

“Umpires of Debt”

Bonner and Wiggin call it as they see it. Read this book and the whole damn engraging mess called the American economy will suddenly make sense. But Empire of Debt is no shot in the dark. I’ve been reading these guys since they wrote the Financial Reckoning Day and Demise of the Dollar and each book completely blows me away by how unafraid they are to tell the truth. I just got an email saying that they sent Empire of Debt to every blockhead politician on Capitol Hill. Please call, fax or email your representative and tell them to read it — immediately.

EyeGee (Baltimore, MD)
November 16, 2005

“A Cautionary Tale”

I loved the sarcastic approach with a tough message. The authors, Bonner and Wiggin put forward some hard cold facts that are easy to understand and sent chills up my spine. A must read for anyone who likes looking over their shoulder…just in-case.

Hilaire Atlee (New York, NY)
November 16, 2005