cover image Survival Investing: 
How to Prosper Amid Thieving Banks and Corrupt Governments

Survival Investing: How to Prosper Amid Thieving Banks and Corrupt Governments

John R. Talbott. Palgrave Macmillan, $25 (256p) ISBN 978-0-230-34122-7

Talbott (Where America Went Wrong), a former investment banker for Goldman Sachs, was concerned about the financial crisis long before it happened. Currently running a small financial consulting company that advises individuals and families about their financial decisions and asset allocation, Talbott wants to warn readers about the perils of a corrupt, lobbyist-ridden system in which even economists don’t understand what’s going on. Stocks, bonds, and money markets won’t cut it because of the danger of inflation. Instead, readers should invest in hard assets like gold and real estate. He doesn’t trust Wall Street, has no hope for reform, and believes in regulation that doesn’t seem to be coming. This slim but shrewd discussion of money and politics—and the deleterious effect the latter has on the former—is a provocative study of the dangers of impending runaway inflation. (June)