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  • Meltdown

  • A Look at Why the Economy Tanked and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse
  • By: Thomas E. Woods Jr.
  • Narrated by: Alan Sklar
  • Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (15 ratings)
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Meltdown cover art

Meltdown

By: Thomas E. Woods Jr.
Narrated by: Alan Sklar
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Summary

The media tells us that "deregulation" and "unfettered free markets" have wrecked our economy and will continue to make things worse without a heavy dose of federal regulation. But the real blame lies elsewhere.

In Meltdown, best-selling author Thomas E. Woods, Jr., unearths the real causes behind the collapse of housing values and the stock market---and it turns out the culprits reside more in Washington than on Wall Street. And the trillions of dollars in federal bailouts? Our politicians' ham-handed attempts to fix the problems they themselves created will only make things much worse.

Woods, a senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute and winner of the 2006 Templeton Enterprise Award, busts the media myths and government spin. He explains how government intervention in the economy---from the Democratic hobby horse called Fannie Mae to affirmative action programs like the Community Redevelopment Act---actually caused the housing bubble. Most important, Woods, author of the New York Times best seller The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, traces this most recent boom-and-bust---and all such booms and busts of the past century---back to one of the most revered government institutions of all: the Federal Reserve System, which allows busybody bureaucrats and ambitious politicians to pull the strings of our financial sector and manipulate the value of the very money we use.

Meltdown, which features a foreword by Congressman Ron Paul (R - Texas), also provides a timely history lesson to counter the current clamor for a new New Deal. The Great Depression, Woods demonstrates, was only as deep and as long as it was because of the government interventions by Herbert Hoover (no free-market capitalist, despite what your high-school history teacher may have taught you) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (no savior of the American economy, in spite of what the mainstream media says). If you want to understand what caused the fi...

©2009 Thomas E. Woods, Jr. (P)2009 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Provocative, well-written, and deserves to be read." ( Catholic Historical Review)
"Well written, well researched, and the thesis put forth is well argued." ( Journal of American History)

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What's going wrong and howcto make it go right

A concise (6h 28…) overview of what's going wrong, how and why.
As Hayek said: "When the govt controls your economic life, it gontrols your entire life."
This is a thoroughly supported plea for smaller government.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

My first Audible book

This was my first Audible book I purchased.
Since then I have purchased and listened to 15 books.
This still remains my favourite and I have listened to it 3 times.
Gives you an insight of the Federal Reserve.My first introduction to Austrian Economics.
A must book to read to get an understanding of the world economic crisis.

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Excellent information

Inflation is on caused by money printing aka legal counterfeiting. If you or I did it we’d be in prison!

Every other alibi is merely an alibi from a corrupt government or a symptom I.e. higher prices is not corporate greed it’s the money is debased meaning products are a higher price to attain the same profit.

The author is correct we desperately need a public currency with a cap on the supply (maybe Bitcoin) and use the Austrian ethos of sound money.

The Keynesian monetary system does not work, the current system is the 4th attempt and it’s failed every time, so why use it? Because it’s a great tool to transfer wealth to elites and impoverishes the population subtly.

Wake up!!!

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