Explores the currency valuations and their relationship to trade deficits and import / exports; especially applied to the States and China. Although published in 2011, the material is still relevant - especially in the exploration of past financial crisis such the financial Panic of 2008 and the Great Depression. It explores the Classical Gold Standard prior to Word War I, the Gold Exchange Standard during the Intra-War years (1920s), the Bretton Woods system post World War II, and the current Fiat standard post Nixon's 1971 Gold shock.

Although Cryptocurrency was just coming into existence, and thus not covered, one can certainly see how it might fit into the broader discussion of a new global currency. Mr. Rickards also covers the IMF, the World Bank, and SDRs.

Still a recommended read in the 2020s. ( )

What could've been an interesting book degrades into a very one sided argument for using gold as backing for currencies. Doesn't even attempt to show the the other side of the argument. At the end it complains that gold has been unfairly blamed for policy mistakes in the past that didn't rely on gold and then later proposes policy fixes that in no way require gold to be implemented. The killer line however is saying that gold is not a commodity but a universal store of value. ( )

Good ... but I was expecting more.
Good in that it was an overview of the history of currency wars, what they are now, and what might happen in the future .... but I felt he was just filling up pages.
Good in that it seemed balanced ... but I felt that he didn't really know what to say.

And therein is the crux: he, Mr Rickards, didn't really know what to say: He doesn't have a strong idea about what the past means for the present or the future, what should be emphasized, what is the deal with currency wars.

( )

This is the scariest damn book I read since Jeff Sharlet's THE FAMILY. No wait, scarier than that. ( )

I found this book uneven. I liked very convincing historical perspective (some facts that I didn't know about). I was bored in the beginning by currency war simulation description - seems like totally useless exercise and a waste of taxpayers money. I was skeptical about some generalizations of financial systems provided by author. I was totally convinced by his description of what the future hold. I was annoyed by some obvious biases in author's description of some government intervention in the past - not all was wrong. Overall, it's a very useful book that everybody should read, despite its shortcomings. I will definitely be looking at Fed's activities in a different light now. ( )