The crash is the solution
The business book Der Crash is the solution. Why the final collapse is coming and how to save your fortune by the authors Matthias Weik and Marc Friedrich was published in May 2014.
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Weik and Friedrich, who have already written a bestseller in the field of business books with The Biggest Raub in History , claim in The Crash is the Solution the imbalances and consequences of the current financial system. The private asset protection and the prospects after an inevitable collapse of the economy are dealt with. In the introductory inventory, the authors state that since the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2007 no noteworthy measures to regulate the markets have been implemented. The continuing risk of large banks is emphasized, which usually have low equity and at the same time rapidly growing balance sheets due to low interest rates and mergers. Weik and Friedrich explain that some of the banks are assigned a systemic relevance that obliges taxpayers to undertake a possible rescue, while profits made would be retained. In their opinion, the financial system must inevitably collapse and cost prosperity. At the same time, it is an opportunity for a change to a real social market economy and a more just society.
In the course of the book, the authors' views on the current financial system are detailed and illustrated with numerous examples. The book puts the following key messages up for discussion:
- The euro is a destructor of prosperity, especially for southern Europe. Instead of making further rescue attempts for the common currency, national currencies should be reintroduced, according to the authors.
- The central banks keep the key interest rates close to zero, so that the interest on savings is usually below the inflation rate and one can speak of a creeping expropriation. The ECB's policy in particular not only leads to speculative bubbles in the real estate and stock markets, but also to falling pensions: Anyone who has been working in Germany since 2012 and pays contributions up to the statutory pension will later only have 55.2 percent of net income available.
- The states are dependent on the banks to sell their debts ( government bonds ) and secure them with tax money. While the banks' losses are thus socialized, their profits are retained and flow into excessive salaries or bonus payments.
- The money put into circulation by the banks represents debts that would grow exponentially because of interest and compound interest. To repay them, exponential economic growth would be necessary, but this is not possible due to limited resources and saturation effects. Consequence: No state will be able to repay its debts in the regular way.
- None of the euro countries adhered to the Maastricht criteria adopted in 1993 , according to which new debt must not exceed 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and total debt must not exceed 60 percent of GDP. Although according to the "Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union" none of the euro countries should be liable for the debts of another euro country, this is exactly the case since the Greek financial crisis.
The authors claim that investments can no longer bring a return in the long term, but in the best case enable value retention. In the opinion of Weik and Friedrich, bursting government bonds that endanger life insurance and pensions represent a major risk. It should be noted that taxes, levies and fees will be increased, special taxes will be introduced and expropriations will be carried out to avoid government bankruptcies. Cash reserves, gold, silver, whiskey, managed properties and direct investments in companies in the region are recommended for the widest possible range of asset protection. Involvement in crowdfunding projects is also welcomed. With real estate it is important to avoid debt and to take taxation and depreciation into account. Warnings are given against entering an overrated and unstable stock market , as well as against various collections (such as art, clocks, postage stamps or porcelain) whose value is higher than the material value.
According to Weik and Friedrich, a crash as a collapse of the current economic and financial system with an associated loss of prosperity inevitably happens, even if the time and sequence cannot be predicted. For the time after the collapse, they see the possibility of building a sustainable system for a fairer society. Among other things, the following measures are necessary for this: installation of a sovereign money system , increasing the equity ratio of banks, introduction of financial transaction taxes , return to national currencies with free exchange rates, return to a monetary system backed by real values, control of lobbying. There is also a strong demand that banks must be liable for their risks and that they can go bankrupt. The new beginning must come from responsible citizens and investors. Education, humility, respect and solidarity are therefore central values.
Ranking
The book was featured in various bestseller lists :
- 18 months on the Manager-Magazin business bestseller list. Top placement: 1st place.
- 49 weeks on Spiegel's non-fiction hardcover bestseller list. Top placement: 2nd place.
- since publication on the Spiegel non-fiction paperback bestseller list.
- Most successful business book 2014
review
According to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, the book gives “a good overview of possible investment opportunities in these difficult times for investors”.
Web links
- Author interview on handelsblatt.com , accessed on August 29, 2015.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c book report , accessed on December 6, 2015.
- ↑ "It is not the state that goes bankrupt, but its citizens!" In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. July 25, 2014, accessed July 23, 2018 .