As our brainstorming thread on how to retire early in Hong Kong has retired I would like to start this new thread to gather a few thought about the book
†This Time IS Different, Eight Centuries of Financial Follyâ€
by Reinhart & Rogoof, Princeton University Press, 2009â€
To start with, the book is a hot commodity in money minded Hong Kong
and last time I checked ( a few months ago ) it was sold out.
However, there is good news, the book can be found online and for free here
http://www.economics.harvard.edu/fil..._Different.pdf
Moreover, a Chinese translation is now available in HongKong, making this difficult read a little bit easier for Chinese native speakers.
Secondly, as just mentioned it is a very demanding book and might be too “dry†for people with a low attention span and no interest in history.
Thus I would like to know who has actually read through the whole book?
Lastly, I would like to know everyone's thoughts about how the U.S. government will handle its domestic and external debt obligations.
In this context, on page 44 of the book it is written
“ The United States has defaulted on domestic public debt as abrogation from gold standard and switch to FIAT money is equal to restructuring of repayment terms “
Moreover, on page 175 it is written
“ governments can be extremely creative in engineering defaultsâ€
So I am just trying to figure out what kind of solution the U.S. government might come up with to screw its domestic and external debtors next time.
( Apart from the inflation method )
Any ideas?
I have got some and will try to write them down here these days.
Your input is highly appreciated !!!