The Rise of Carry: The Dangerous Consequences of Volatility Suppression and the New Financial Order of Decaying Growth and Recurring Crisis


Book Description

Protect yourself from the next financial meltdown with this game-changing primer on financial markets, the economy—and the meteoric rise of carry. The financial shelves are filled with books that explain how popular carry trading has become in recent years. But none has revealed just how significant a role it plays in the global economy—until now. A groundbreaking book sure to leave its mark in the canon of investing literature, The Rise of Carry explains how carry trading has virtually shaped the global economic picture—one of decaying economic growth, recurring crises, wealth disparity, and, in too many places, social and political upheaval. The authors explain how carry trades work—particularly in the currency and stock markets—and provide a compelling case for how carry trades have come to dominate the entire global business cycle. They provide thorough analyses of critical but often overlooked topics and issues, including: •The active role stock prices play in causing recessions—as opposed to the common belief that recessions cause price crashes •The real driving force behind financial asset prices •The ways that carry, volatility selling, leverage, liquidity, and profitability affect the business cycle •How positive returns to carry over time are related to market volatility—and how central bank policies have supercharged these returns Simply put, carry trading is now the primary determinant of the global business cycle—a pattern of long, steady but unspectacular expansions punctuated by catastrophic crises. The Rise of Carry provides foundational knowledge and expert insights you need to protect yourself from what have come to be common market upheavals—as well as the next major crisis.




The Rise of Carry: The Dangerous Consequences of Volatility Suppression and the New Financial Order of Decaying Growth and Recurring Crisis


Book Description

A first-of-its-kind primer on markets and the economy—providing the knowledge you need to protect yourself from the next financial meltdown. It’s well known that carry trading has been a driving force in financial markets for years. But carry is actually much more than this. In fact, it has become the primary determinant of the global business cycle. The first book of its kind, The Rise of Carry explains how financial markets work today, how they relate to the overall economy, the increasingly important role of carry in the overall economy—and how it feeds the never-ending cycles of boom to bust and back again. The Rise of Carry provides critical but often overlooked foundational knowledge, such as: •The active role stock prices play in causing recessions (as opposed to the common belief that recessions cause price crashes)•The true driving force behind financial asset prices•How carry, volatility-selling, leverage, liquidity, and profitability affect the business cycle•How positive returns to carry over time are related to market volatility—and how central bank policies have acted to supercharge these returns Finally, you’ll gain important insight into how the rise of carry is part of a broader phenomenon that includes growing inequality in wealth and power and, by extension, other adverse political and social developments. While there has been an increasing amount of work in academia on carry trades, this groundbreaking book is a first for investors.




Our Unfinished March


Book Description

A brutal, bloody, and at times hopeful history of the vote; a primer on the opponents fighting to take it away; and a playbook for how we can save our democracy before it’s too late—from the former U.S. Attorney General on the front lines of this fight Voting is our most important right as Americans—“the right that protects all the others,” as Lyndon Johnson famously said when he signed the Voting Rights Act—but it’s also the one most violently contested throughout U.S. history. Since the gutting of the act in the landmark Shelby County v. Holder case in 2013, many states have passed laws restricting the vote. After the 2020 election, President Trump’s effort to overturn the vote has evolved into a slow-motion coup, with many Republicans launching an all-out assault on our democracy. The vote seems to be in unprecedented peril. But the peril is not at all unprecedented. America is a fragile democracy, Eric Holder argues, whose citizens have only had unfettered access to the ballot since the 1960s. He takes readers through three dramatic stories of how the vote was won: first by white men, through violence and insurrection; then by white women, through protests and mass imprisonments; and finally by African Americans, in the face of lynchings and terrorism. Next, he dives into how the vote has been stripped away since Shelby—a case in which Holder was one of the parties. He ends with visionary chapters on how we can reverse this tide of voter suppression and become a true democracy where every voice is heard and every vote is counted. Full of surprising history, intensive analysis, and actionable plans for the future, this is a powerful primer on our most urgent political struggle from one of the country's leading advocates.




Fighting Financial Fires


Book Description

A topical insider view of causes and consequences of financial crises since the Mexican collapse of 1995. The book includes a detailed exploration of recent and ongoing firestorms, including the near meltdown of the global financial system and the euro crisis and suggests ways to save the international financial and monetary system.




Hidden in Plain Sight


Book Description

The 2008 financial crisis—like the Great Depression—was a world-historical event. What caused it will be debated for years, if not generations. The conventional narrative is that the financial crisis was caused by Wall Street greed and insufficient regulation of the financial system. That narrative produced the Dodd-Frank Act, the most comprehensive financial-system regulation since the New Deal. There is evidence, however, that the Dodd-Frank Act has slowed the recovery from the recession. If insufficient regulation caused the financial crisis, then the Dodd-Frank Act will never be modified or repealed; proponents will argue that doing so will cause another crisis. A competing narrative about what caused the financial crisis has received little attention. This view, which is accepted by almost all Republicans in Congress and most conservatives, contends that the crisis was caused by government housing policies. This book extensively documents this view. For example, it shows that in June 2008, before the crisis, 58 percent of all US mortgages were subprime or other low-quality mortgages. Of these, 76 percent were on the books of government agencies such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. When these mortgages defaulted in 2007 and 2008, they drove down housing prices and weakened banks and other mortgage holders, causing the crisis. After this book is published, no one will be able to claim that the financial crisis was caused by insufficient regulation, or defend Dodd-Frank, without coming to terms with the data this book contains.




Meltdown


Book Description

From the leading magazine on the left, an exose of the failures, lies and misdeeds that caused the financial collapse—and a plan for rescuing the country.







The Inequality Trap


Book Description

US President Barack Obama has called economic inequality the “defining issue of our time.” It has inspired the “Occupy” movements, made a French economist into a global celebrity, and given us a new expression – the “one percent.” But is our preoccupation with inequality really justified? Or wise? In his new book, William Watson argues that focusing on inequality is both an error and a trap. It is an error because much inequality is “good,” the reward for thrift, industry, and invention. It is a trap because it leads us to fixate on the top end of the income distribution, rather than on those at the bottom who need help most. In fact, if we respond to growing inequality by fighting capitalism rather than poverty, we may end up both poorer and less equal. Explaining the complexities of modern economics in a clear, accessible style, The Inequality Trap is the must-read rejoinder to the idea that fighting inequality should be our top policy priority.




The Great Super Cycle


Book Description

The United States has a problem – a big problem. Due to costs associated with the massive bailout of financial institutions deemed "too big to fail," on-going armed conflicts, and a move towards socialism, another even bigger bubble is about to burst – the debt bubble. The Great Super Cycle: Profit from the Coming Inflation Tidal Wave and Dollar Devaluation is an intriguing look at the relationship between Washington and Wall Street; the history of political shifts in power and how those shifts influenced the global economy; and, the ways investors can profit as economies move away from U.S. dollar and debt. The book: Discusses how a socialist America will result in the U.S. economy becoming far less competitive, while causing funds to move offshore Details how investors can profit by investing in gold, oil, and Asian markets Explains major cyclical movements from the mega cycle of world power to stock market cycles which last 10-20 years. As the United States begins to deal with its massive debt bubble, The Great Super Cycle just might prove the most powerful tool an investor has for making money in the turbulent years to come.




The Invisible Killer


Book Description

An urgent examination of one of the biggest global crises facing us today--air pollution--looking at the drastic worsening of the problem, and what we can do about it. "Fascinating, readable, and terrifying in equal measure." —Mark Lynas, author of Six Degrees The air pollution that we breathe every day is largely invisible—but it is killing us. How did it get this bad, and how can we stop it? Far from a modern-day problem, scientists were aware of the impact of air pollution as far back as the seventeenth century. Now, as more of us live in cities, we are closer than ever to pollution sources, and the detrimental impact on the environment and our health has reached crisis point. The Invisible Killer will introduce you to the incredible individuals whose groundbreaking research paved the way to today's understanding of air pollution, often at their own detriment. Gary Fuller's global story examines devastating incidents from London's Great Smog to Norway's acid rain; Los Angeles's traffic problem to wood-burning damage in New Zealand. Fuller argues that the only way to alter the future course of our planet and improve collective global health is for city and national governments to stop ignoring evidence and take action, persuading the public and making polluters bear the full cost of the harm that they do. The decisions that we make today will impact on our health for decades to come. The Invisible Killer is an essential book for our times and a cautionary tale we need to take heed of.