Meltdown

A Look at Why the Economy Tanked and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse

By: Thomas E. Woods Jr.

Narrated by: Alan Sklar

Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

The media tells us that "deregulation" and "unfettered free markets" have wrecked our economy and will continue to make things worse without a heavy dose of federal regulation. But the real blame lies elsewhere.

In Meltdown, best-selling author Thomas E. Woods, Jr., unearths the real causes behind the collapse of housing values and the stock market---and it turns out the culprits reside more in Washington than on Wall Street. And the trillions of dollars in federal bailouts? Our politicians' ham-handed attempts to fix the problems they themselves created will only make things much worse.

Woods, a senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute and winner of the 2006 Templeton Enterprise Award, busts the media myths and government spin. He explains how government intervention in the economy---from the Democratic hobby horse called Fannie Mae to affirmative action programs like the Community Redevelopment Act---actually caused the housing bubble. Most important, Woods, author of the New York Times best seller The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, traces this most recent boom-and-bust---and all such booms and busts of the past century---back to one of the most revered government institutions of all: the Federal Reserve System, which allows busybody bureaucrats and ambitious politicians to pull the strings of our financial sector and manipulate the value of the very money we use.

Meltdown, which features a foreword by Congressman Ron Paul (R - Texas), also provides a timely history lesson to counter the current clamor for a new New Deal. The Great Depression, Woods demonstrates, was only as deep and as long as it was because of the government interventions by Herbert Hoover (no free-market capitalist, despite what your high-school history teacher may have taught you) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (no savior of the American economy, in spite of what the mainstream media says). If you want to understand what caused the fi...

©2009 Thomas E. Woods, Jr. (P)2009 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Provocative, well-written, and deserves to be read." ( Catholic Historical Review)
"Well written, well researched, and the thesis put forth is well argued." ( Journal of American History)

If you like money or freedom, this is a must read!

The author discusses how the U.S. government manipulates currency in America for its own gain and to the detriment of the citizens it supposedly serves. Give it a listen and a few minutes of consideration. A valuable alternative point of view and a good explanation of the forces that caused the 2008 housing bubble and banking bailouts and what is likely to follow. Explained in clear understandable language.

Fantastic

a very well written explanation of the financial crash of 2008. Voiced eloquently explains how the federal reserve caused the artificial boom, And why more credit creation and bail outs or fuel to the fire rather than a remedy to the problem.

Awesome

Awesome a must read. Thanks for all you do Mr. Tom woods. God bless you!

great and very true

Best case study of economic crisis in 2008 I've read. I recommend it even to beginners.

Good things to think about but a little political

This is probably a good primer on Austrian School Economics is you are not familiar with it. It falls into the trap, like most books with political messages, of being a bit sarcastic and dismissive towards the arguments of the other side. I try to read each viewpoint and for the opposing one I would recommend "The Great Crash of 1929" by Galbraith, which also tends toward sarcasm.

I believe the best point of this book is to give us a lot of questions to think about before we spend the equivalent of a warehouse full of 100-dollar bills that we do not have. While it may be too late for this bailout/stimulus we better think long and hard about the questions raised in this book before we do it again. This is a good introduction to the school of economics dismissed as "supply side" by the popular press but it falls short as an in-depth look at the very serious issues we face. If you want to know more a good next step is Sowell's "Applied Economics".

I Just Loved This Book And Couldn't Get Enough!

Wow! I just couldn't get enough of this book! It's one of the best books I've read so far in regards to our economic crisis. Fair, hard-hitting, fact based and full of great information easy enough for the average layperson to understand.

I'm a small businessman just trying to make it through this economic downturn. I don't feel that I'm a victim of the situation, but it's good to know where a lot of this economic craziness started and what we can do to get out of it.

Tip of the Iceburg

This was an awaking book for me. Solidified thoughts and ideas floating around in my mind for some time with more than a few “ah ha!” moments. Has lead me to want to know more.

Current economics made easier

Would you listen to Meltdown again? Why?

I would listen again to refresh my facts and understanding.

Any additional comments?

I appreciated all the references that were mentioned and the suggested research.

Uncomfortable Truth

When we're all not too busy entertaining ourselves with fantasy and fiction, we should be listening to uncomfortable truths like this. Heavens forbid we do this too much and it drives us to pull our heads from the sand and start to be active and heard to the den of thieves relying on our heads staying in the sand.

A great explanation of the '08 crisis and beyond

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, especially to those into economics and politics. This book shows the impact of bad policies in one specific area and even expands it circles to economics at large.

Who was your favorite character and why?

N/A

What about Alan Sklar’s performance did you like?

He was fine. Nothing good or bad.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

What is money?

Any additional comments?

This was one of the first books to be written about the 2008 finical crisis. I know Woods wrote the book in something like a month. With all the information in this book that had to be an arduous undertaking. Woods' approach is to look at the cause of the '08 crisis under the Austrian economic business theory. Essentially, this theory says that value of something is subjective and people act to their ends, according to ideas. From this, order, money, value emerges. This is comparable to other methods that attempt to try and quantify every aspect to make predictors. Unfortunately, this takes out the factor of human action.

Without doing the job of the book, this approach explains what we saw in '08 from an approach that not many have ever thought about it. Having listened to enough Tom Woods' podcasts, I had a decent grasp of the concept but this book presents an amazingly complete case from the Austrian side of things.

This book forms concentric circles around the '08 crisis. It covers the reasons and people who were responsible for the crisis. Then it covers other countries who experienced their own financial crisis and what the Austrian model says. Then it covers what is money, value, currency backing, and other basis economic issues that someone might not have thought of. A decent presentation on gold and silver backed currency is also made. Then, a great look on the 1930's Great Depression and the reasons behind it and the outlook from the Austrian POV is also made. The term, "they didn't teach that in school" can be uttered throughout this portion - and most areas of this book.

This really is a great book on the topic and the topic of economics. Woods writes not with an air of elitism but he really tries to communicate and educate the reader of the book. The areas he writes about in the detail he does, and in the limited amount he had to write is impressive.

The one area that I could say that needed a little help is in explaining a few of the topics with a little bit more beginner outlook. Unless I missed it, there wasn't a definition of Austrian economics and it would have been good to really drive home the definition and basic factors throughout the book for someone who is just picking up a book on the subject for the first time.

If you have an interest in economics or the politics of the '08 crisis or libertarian ideas this is a great book to pick up. Final Grade - A