Product Description

The Final Crash is a warning to those who fall prey to the classic human conditioning that makes us think the good times will never cease; just when they are about to. It exposes the relentless rise and corrosive effect of debt for the many who are drawn into its tempting trap. The use and abuse of borrowing and gearing - by the public and professionals alike - bears an uncanny resemblance to the build-up of drug dependency by an addict. The classic cycle of occasional use to reliance then ultimate ruin will become all-too-clear to readers of this book. The endemic spread of indebtedness is both oppressive and financially toxic: tainting individuals, banks, corporations and even governments as they stumble unwittingly along a path of economic self-destruction. The proliferation of mass-produced money has been propagated by commercial banks and nurtured by central banks in both Britain and America. Their actions were initially designed to stave off the worst effects of 9/11 but they have since spawned a string of destabilising asset price bubbles, whose burst will drag the West into an unprecedented slump. Those who are best placed to warn of an impending crash are also those who benefit from the multiplication and distribution of debt which, like the devil, comes in many disguises. Borrowing and speculation are embedded in every component of our financial system; packaged with semantics and comforting euphemisms designed to trap the unwary. The mere possibility of a recession, let alone a slump, is vehemently denied by those with lucrative careers and vested interests to protect. It has taken an investment manager at the coal-face of markets to make the case for what may be the greatest depression since the dawn of the industrial revolution. We must prepare and adapt to survive the coming crash which is already beyond prevention. Like the biblical Armageddon, the deformation of the economic system need not be feared as an end of days but should be viewed as

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #80443 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 246 pages

Review
Here is a disquieting dispatch from someone deeply embedded in the financial world and all us amateur punters should sit up and take note. Do not say later you were not warned. --Lord Desai, Emeritus Professor of Economics, London School of Economics

The Final Crash by Hugo Bouleau is a studious work inferring the impending potential dismal future of the US. This is a book that should be read and studied by anyone who has a serious interest in the lives of our future generations. --Richard Russell, Editor-Publisher, Dow Theory Letters Inc.

Hugo Bouleau's brilliant synthesis of the effect and risk of the ever-growing mountain of debt that Western economies are creating, provides an excellent and timely antidote to the hype peddled by both institutions and market commentators who should know better. Ignore this book and its message at your peril. --Mark Shipman, Professional investor and author of 'The Next Big Investment Boom'

Richard Russell, Editor-Publisher, Dow Theory Letters Inc.
The Final Crash by Hugo Bouleau is a studious work inferring the
impending potential dismal future of the US. This is a book that should be
read and studied by anyone who has a serious interest in the lives of our
future generations.

Mark Shipman, Professional investor and author of 'The Next Big Investment Boom'
Hugo Bouleau's brilliant synthesis of the effect and risk of the
ever-growing mountain of debt that Western economies are creating, provides
an excellent and timely antidote to the hype peddled by both institutions
and market commentators who should know better. Ignore this book and its
message at your peril.

Customer Reviews

No point hiding behind the sofa
With the return of Dr Who to British television screens, those of a certain generation will remember that the sofa was an adequate protection to block out the view of invading Daleks. In the adult world of modern media our confidence in the system is supported by massive amounts of data that act as a similar, flimsy, defence against the real threats to the world's capitalist systems.

Bouleau has taken that sofa away, leaving us a view of the supply of capital (or lack of it) we would rather not see: that of a system built on layer upon layer of debt, promises to pay and insubstantial foundations.

Doubtless due for dismissive reviews by some of us schooled in modern economics, Bouleau's thesis covers a very wide range of matters critical to our successors. Our children and children's children will wonder why such obvious risks were never properly grasped, and they will marvel at the staggering naivete of governments, voters, central banks, markets and pressure groups.

Bouleau identifies and brings together a number of specific and clearly fundamental flaws in the methods that allow worthless paper to be printed and traded, and on which the world's financial systems rely.

Whether or not Bouleau's prognostications turn out to be exactly as he describes, this is not a thesis that can be ignored. In one volume you can read a carefully considered set of arguments that it is difficult to disagree with (and from which we should expect debate). This is (forgive the pun) eschatology, not scatology, and anyone grown up enough not to depend on a sofa for protection should read it and have an opinion.

Hidden within the thesis are hints at some solutions - let's hope that Bouleau will not keep us in suspense for too long with a follow-up volume.

Whassup?
I bought this book in March 2008 as I became more scared about a banking collapse. Not in my wildest imagining did I expect Hugo's direst outlook to manifest. This weekend the financial system is close to total collapse, brought about by an imploding ponzi scheme of unsound "bad" money (debt), that the bubble addicts (government) have fostered on the debt junkies (consumers).

I struggle to understand why our politicians and regulators did not take more care. It was obvious that there was a housing bubble. History will show that an intircate bond between the City and Downing Street made both want a boom: one to win votes and the other to make money. It was a diabolically greedy relationship. It has brought our country to its knees. I strongly recommend you read this book and prepare for a "soft" depression.