Table of Contents

Introduction: The Bubble Empire 1

Part I Imperia Absurdum

1 Dead Men Talking 19

2 Empires of Dirt 35

3 How Empires Work 51

4 As We Go Marching 77

Part II Woodrow Crosses the Rubicon

5 The Road to Hell 89

6 The Revolution of 1913 and the Great Depression 125

7 MacNamara’s War 143

8 Nixon’s the One 169

Part III Evening in America

9 Reagan’s Legacy 181

10 America’s Glorious Empire of Debt 207

11 Modern Imperial Finance 235

12 Something Wicked This Way Comes 249

Part IV Fin De Bubble

13 Welcome to Squanderville 259

14 Still Turning Japanese 277

15 The Mighty Fallen 285

16 What to Do When the Barbarians Arrive 323

Notes 329

Index 339

About the Author

WILLIAM BONNER is President and CEO of Agora Inc., one of the world’s largest financial newsletter companies (www.agorafinancial.com). He is the creator of the Daily Reckoning (www.dailyreckoning.com), a financial newsletter with more than 500,000 readers in the United States, Great Britain, and Australia, and is translated daily into French and German. Mr. Bonner is also the coauthor, with Addison Wiggin, of the international bestsellers Financial Reckoning Day and Empire of Debt.

ADDISON WIGGIN is the Executive Publisher of Agora Financial. He is also the Executive Producer and a writer of the feature-length documentary film I.O.U.S.A., which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Mr. Wiggin is the coauthor, with Mr. Bonner, of the international bestsellers Financial Reckoning Day and Empire of Debt, and author of The Demise of the Dollar … And Why It’s Even Better for Your Investments.

Reviews

"How deficit spending, gluttonous consumption and military adventurism, they say, will bring America to its knees…"
— The Economist "This is a powerful book. In addition to its depth, it is well written, well documented, and vastly readable. I had the feeling of seeing an X-ray of economic reality with the crust removed. It should be made mandatory reading in most circles. Read it, and your views of the world around you will no longer be the same."
—Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan and Fooled by Randomness "Now perhaps someone will finally listen!"
—Jim Rogers, author of Investment Biker, Adventure Capitalist, and Hot Commodities "Instead of trade and work, imperialism breeds militarism, inflation, and debt, as Bonner and Wiggin show. Yet there is a golden hope in freedom and honest money."
—Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr., President, Ludwig von Mises Institute "[Empire of Debt] is a fantastic book. It's thoughtful, erudite, witty, well written, practical . . . and spot-on. If you value your financial health, you'll read it from cover to cover. Now!"
—Doug Casey, Chairman, Casey Research, LLC, and author of Crisis Investing "I laughed, I cried, I renewed my passport. . . . Bonner and Wiggin deliver a steady diet of insight and wit that terrifies the reader, even as it amuses. Empire of Debt is not for everyone, only for those of us who hope to enjoy continuing prosperity amidst difficult conditions."
—Eric Fry, Editor, The Rude Awakening