Money: How the Destruction of the Dollar Threatens the Global Economy - and What We Can Do About It

A couple weeks ago, Steve Forbes, the chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, spoke at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. I had the opportunity to hear him speak and talked to him awhile beforehand. (By the way, he told me that he will not be running for U.S. President again.)

Forbes has also come out with a new book called Money: How the Destruction of the Dollar Threatens the Global Economy – and What We Can Do About It. Forbes has pinpointed the primary cause of the problems with the current economy. The book covers how we got into this mess, how we can get out of it, and what could happen if we don't do anything about it.

The book is about, what else, money. He talks about the history of money in an interesting and easy to understand way. Probably the most important chapter is Chapter 4, where he discusses how terrible inflation is, even a small rate of inflation.

In his speech, he even gave an example. He said that when Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told U.S. Senators that she had an annual target inflation rate of 2%, why did not one senator ask the question, for a middle class family that spends $50,000 a year, how does increasing their expenses by $1,000 a year help that family? Forbes does not believe in inflation at all.

He said that if inflation gets out of control, which it will if something isn't done soon, it will turn into a catastrophe. But he also said that inflation isn't just a financial issue, it is a morality issue.

Fortunately, there is a solution. It is covered in Chapter 6 (I won't give it away.)

If you want to understand the debasement of the U.S. dollar and inflation, then I highly recommend that you read Money.