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Don't let the hype fool you - this book is absolutely useless -- unless you want to endure pages and pages of Smick's dinner exploits, travel arrangements, hotel stays and endless name dropping. Here's the key messages of the book: The Global financial marketplace is complex, so don't muck with it or the world might breakAmerica, China, Japan, Europe, India, Brazil might be tempted to raise trade and financial barriers - that might muck things up and the world might breakWe need more Chuck Shumers and Bill Clintons, anyone else might muck things up and the world might breakDUH.Those that can do, those that cannot - CONSULT - like Smick.
David Smick tells it the way it is, I wish I had read this book before the down turn.I will recomed that you read this book if you are looking for answers to what may be next.
But then again, I don't have a book with Alan Greenspan's glowing endorsement on the cover either.Smick says the solution is to have smarter politicians, like Democrat Charles Schumer. The book has some good insights, but in the end I felt disappointed. (But I worked at Countrywide in the mid-1990s - they were securitizing mortgages back then and there were no problems at that time). And we don't want "financial executives working desperately to avoid civil suits and criminal prosecution." In my opinion, a good share of the blame must go to Alan Greenspan who kept interest rates too low for too long. I agree that Greenspan did a good job for most of his career, and multiple factors contributed to the today's meltdown, but I can't ignore his obvious role in creating this fiasco. - Global capital exceeds the number of good investment opportunities, creating the potential for bubbles (i.e. As a result, central banks have less control over their economies.
too much debt has expanded the worlds money supply beyond what's financially healthy). - The securitization of debt is a primary villain, because the bank that originates the mortgage suffers no consequence if the loan goes bad. I began reading The World is Curved with great hope and anticipation. These same Democrats are still in power today. Smick expresses concern that the current political trend is toward over-regulation, protectionism and class warfare, all of which will cause the global pie to shrink. Smick does a good job of trying to protect Greenspan from criticism. In the end, we'll have more bubbles and greater financial problems. Sadly, the financial policies of Bush and Obama are geared toward maintaining the status quo by further borrowing, and by giving money to the very people who got us into this mess.
Smick's basic points include:- Global capital today flows from one investment to another in the blink of an eye, regardless of borders or culture. Smick's opinion is based, in part, on Schumer inadvertently insulting a Japanese audience. Smick says that the bond rating agencies and the government regulators were simply not up to the task of anticipating the problems. In reality, some Republicans belatedly questioned the lending practices that were occurring pre-meltdown, but the Democrats in power at the time denied there were problems. If this is brilliance, then no wonder the world is in trouble.Unlike Smick, I WANT the upcoming crop of financial execs to fear "civil suits and criminal prosecution." If the system is too complex for regulators and politicians, then the only thing that will bring prudence to the financial elite is the threat of punishment for screwing up. I agree with Smick that too much regulation will kill the golden goose and we need to encourage entrepreneurs, but I walked away feeling that Smick, who is well connected to the world of high finance and politics, is part of the problem, rather than part of the solution.
An outstanding book regarding the global financial system that has created great prosperity around the world, but could be in danger of collapsing.
Oh, he does point the finger at "greedy" bankers and financial "wizards," but doesn't see his connection and complicity. This, of course, creates the bubbles that have dominated the world economy for the last dozen years and created the problem--money out of thin air. He advises them. AMAZING. He says they must enjoy a high level of confidence (ebullience) that this "system" continues as is, to keep funding innovation.
(Does that declaration mean five stars). It is about the liars and thieves who have fleeced the people of the world, albeit as Smick contends again and again, without knowledge or intention. So are they innocent. But, let me be real, the "investors" are merely interested in getting in on a potential money-maker.
He trots out the tired old line about the creative class needing the money of the super rich to do what they do; but admits that creative people aren't motivated by money or wealth--just the doing of the thing. self-absorbed and unaware personalities globe trotting and using the latest technology, to pursue the accumulation of wealth for personal status--that has brought the world to the brink of serious depression, both economic and psychically. For instance, who knows what these words mean in the language of finance: Equity; Capital; Liquidity; Investment; Trust; Leverage; Human Capital; Inflation; Economy; Entrepreneurial; Securities; Sovereign Wealth Funds; Risk; Securitization; Free Trade; Bond Markets; Hedge Funds. It reflects what is the essential problem of the world economic situation but, not unsurprisingly, Smick fails to see that it is HIM and his kind--i.e. That money most likely will wind up in the pockets of the already rich and their wizards and bankers. They buy low, create a buying frenzy via the oldest trick (thus the wizard label) of the confidence game--fear of losing out-- then sell high and move on.
I would like all these bankers and wizards and their beneficiaries, stripped of their wealth and given shovels to manage manure, dig ditches to move water, and build roads and foundations. To be clear, again, many people have gotten very rich, but most have been fleeced and NOW. The World Is Curved is a self-aggrandizing story about the world of international finance and economic globalization, told in mostly the first person, by David Smick--one of that arenas major players and beneficiaries. What a crock, what a confidence game. One of the tricks these "wizards" use is specialized jargon.
Smick even admits the people in charge often don't even know what they are talking about when they use the words.This book is a classic.
one of Smick's remedies is to have the government (the people) tax themselves and then give themselves a "gift" upon birth to be invested in the markets.
Let them earn a living.
He is a "consultant" and advises "some of the world's most successful money managers." I'll be clear, the author depends on making his living and enjoying a royal jet-setting lifestyle on the super rich maintaining their status and well-being.
That would boost my confidence.
I list here some of the bubbles: Dot Com; Telecommunications; Housing; the Stock Market itself.
I can't believe this.
Just jerks doing what jerks do.
DON'T BUY THIS BOOK.
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