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Shadow Market: How Sovereign Wealth Funds Secretly Dominate the Global Economy
Acclaimed financial journalist Eric J. Weiner reveals how foreign countries and private investors are increasingly controlling the global economy and secretly wresting power from the United States in ways that our government cannot reverse and about which the average American knows nothing. The most potent force in global commerce today is not the Federal Reserve, not the international banks, not the governments of the G7 countries, and certainly not the European Union. Rather, it is the multi-trillion-dollar network of super-rich, secretive, and largely unregulated investment vehicles--foreign sovereign wealth funds, government-run corporations, private equity funds, and hedge funds--that are quietly buying up the world, piece by valuable piece.As Weiner's groundbreaking account shows, the shadow market doesn't have a physical headquarters such as Wall Street. It doesn't have a formal leadership or an index to track or a single zone of exchange. Rather, it comprises an invisible and ever-shifting global nexus where money mixes with geopolitical power, often with great speed and secrecy.Led by cash-flush nations such as China, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and even Norway, the shadow market is hiring the brightest international financial talent money can buy and is now assembling the gigantic investment portfolios that will form the power structure of tomorrow's economy.Taking advantage of the Great Recession and subsequent liquidity problems in the United States and Europe, the major players of the shadow market are deploying staggering amounts of cash, controlling the capital markets, and securing not only major stakes in multinational companies but huge tracts of farmland and natural resources across the world. Yet that's not all; they're also pursuing political agendas made possible by their massive wealth and are becoming increasingly aggressive with the United States and other governments.Highly informative and genuinely startling, Eric J. Weiner's up-to-date account gets out in front of daily events, with proof of his argument destined to appear in the news for years to come. "The Shadow Market "moves the conversation from "international competition" to "global financial warfare," and stands as an urgent must-read for anyone interested in the future of the global economy, America's position in the world, or how and where to invest money today.DID YOU KNOW?***The Pentagon has run elaborate simulations of global financial war. America lost, and the shadow market won.***The U.S. dollar is under siege as a global currency; oil-producing nations have already begun secret discussions about replacing it in oil trading.***While Greece was burning in the spring of 2010, the shadow market nations were spending hundreds of billions of dollars all over the world rather than helping to fix the European crisis. Why? Because it wasn't their problem.***With its wealth of natural resources, Brazil may be more powerful than Germany, France, and Great Britain put together, and may soon rival the United States for economic supremacy in the Western Hemisphere.***In April 2009, China told the International Monetary Fund to sell 3,217 tons of gold. How much did China buy? That's a secret. What else is China buying? As many of the oil reserves in non-Middle Eastern countries as it can, including in Canada. It has bought so many Australian natural resource companies that Australia is getting nervous. And some would say that China has, in effect, already purchased Taiwan.***Many of the shadow market countries are racing to improve their food-security risks by buying large swaths of farmland in other countries, potentially at the risk of starving the local citizens. Saudi Arabia has a farm the size of Connecticut in Indonesia, and Korean industrial giant Daewoo controls half the arable land of Madagascar.***Iran is China's third largest oil supplier and in return receives significant protection from Chinese diplomats, who are increasingly important players on the geopolitical stage.***The shadow market countries will soon control nearly $20 trillion in assets, a sum greater than the gross domestic product of the United States. such as Wall Street. It doesn't have a formal leadership or an index to track or a single zone of exchange. Rather, it comprises an invisible and ever-shifting global nexus where money mixes with geopolitical power, often with great speed and secrecy.
320 pages, Paperback
First published September 21, 2010
12 people are currently reading
154 people want to read
About the author
Eric J. Weiner
4 books3 followersFor the poet and author of works on Education, see: Dr. Eric J. Weiner.
Eric J. Weiner has covered business and economics issues for fifteen years as a writer and editor. His critically acclaimed first book, WHAT GOES UP: The Uncensored History of Modern Wall Street as told by the Bankers, Brokers, CEOs, and Scoundrels Who Made It Happen, was published in September 2005 by Little, Brown and Company, and was selected as one of the year’s best books by Barron’s magazine and one of the year’s “Most Enriching Reads” by Kiplinger’s. He is a former columnist and reporter for Dow Jones Newswires, and he has written for The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Village Voice, and countless other major publications. He also is a contributor to the news and opinion website The Huffington Post. He lives in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, with his wife, Paige and their son, Jake.
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Eric J. Weiner has covered business and economics issues for fifteen years as a writer and editor. His critically acclaimed first book, WHAT GOES UP: The Uncensored History of Modern Wall Street as told by the Bankers, Brokers, CEOs, and Scoundrels Who Made It Happen, was published in September 2005 by Little, Brown and Company, and was selected as one of the year’s best books by Barron’s magazine and one of the year’s “Most Enriching Reads” by Kiplinger’s. He is a former columnist and reporter for Dow Jones Newswires, and he has written for The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Village Voice, and countless other major publications. He also is a contributor to the news and opinion website The Huffington Post. He lives in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, with his wife, Paige and their son, Jake.
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September 5, 2020
The Shadow markets: How a group of wealthy nations and powerful investors secretly dominate the world
By: Eric J. Weiner
As the title suggest, there are incredibly large pools of money that are moving around every single day. The important thing to note is that these movements of money are not for the betterment of humanity, nor for moral reasons, or in the wests interest as it has been for the last 200 years.
Money is used to control. The old establishment of warfare and dominance are steadily coming to a close, and instead large sums of cash are being used to maneuver political interests. Money is a weapon, for the interest of some government, or agency.
China has the largest pool of investment cash available on the planet, and this will only continue to grow as hundreds of thousands of Chinese continue to enter the middle, and upper class. China invests, but unlike western nations, it does not impose strict criteria for investment. Instead, China's policies simply require vast amount of resources in exchange. This means investing on moral grounds is not a requirement, especially in conflict nations such as Sudan, Libya, Syria, and various others.
China is the largest player of any nation, and even holds 2/3rds of America’s debt. If the communist party wanted to collapse America's economy, it would simply sell off a small fraction, inciting a selling frenzy and tanking the American dollar. Political hardball with China is useless, it cannot be controlled, and has the power to invest as it wishes, even monopolizing on entire volumes of resources within countries for its longevity.
Furthermore, we have the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) who will continue to drastically grow their economies, and will continue to invest outside the traditional western ideals. The China and India economies will each surpass Americas economy (individually), and thus will have greater political influences (if they don't already), as time quickly progresses.
Then we have the Opec 'oil' nations of the middle east. These nations, combined, control 2/3rds of the worlds discovered oil reserves. These nations sit on some massive reserves of cash, and invest in anything and everything that provides sustainable returns, such as 10-12% per year. Furthermore, when one nation within these Opec nations is under severe debt, then they have no issues bailing each other out, using billions of oil dollars.
Then we have large hedge funds simply gambling investor money, for the sake of large financial returns. And I mean LARGE financial returns, in the billions. These investment agencies have no interest in morals, and in one case, the financial crash of 2008 was a collaboration with a large hedge fund which shorted toxic investments. Nonetheless, all hedge funds got away from any policy problems, although many collapsed.
We also have a nation such as Norway, with its large pools of oil dollars. Norway seeks to invest using moral judgement, and abstains from investing in anything that have a negative moral outlook, such as war, slavery, abuses, etc. Furthermore, their oil fund is used for the retiring population, and any time the country needs a quick influx of cash, although their economy is segregated from the oil fund as much as possible.
Ultimately, what binds each of these nations is that they are primarily uncontrolled by the traditional western nations. Instead, these countries may hold a-moral ideals, as long as their political, resource, and strategic agendas are met. This scares America, and even more so, European nations, which will continue to stagnate, as Asian countries grow in economic power.
Great, intuitive book!
By: Eric J. Weiner
As the title suggest, there are incredibly large pools of money that are moving around every single day. The important thing to note is that these movements of money are not for the betterment of humanity, nor for moral reasons, or in the wests interest as it has been for the last 200 years.
Money is used to control. The old establishment of warfare and dominance are steadily coming to a close, and instead large sums of cash are being used to maneuver political interests. Money is a weapon, for the interest of some government, or agency.
China has the largest pool of investment cash available on the planet, and this will only continue to grow as hundreds of thousands of Chinese continue to enter the middle, and upper class. China invests, but unlike western nations, it does not impose strict criteria for investment. Instead, China's policies simply require vast amount of resources in exchange. This means investing on moral grounds is not a requirement, especially in conflict nations such as Sudan, Libya, Syria, and various others.
China is the largest player of any nation, and even holds 2/3rds of America’s debt. If the communist party wanted to collapse America's economy, it would simply sell off a small fraction, inciting a selling frenzy and tanking the American dollar. Political hardball with China is useless, it cannot be controlled, and has the power to invest as it wishes, even monopolizing on entire volumes of resources within countries for its longevity.
Furthermore, we have the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) who will continue to drastically grow their economies, and will continue to invest outside the traditional western ideals. The China and India economies will each surpass Americas economy (individually), and thus will have greater political influences (if they don't already), as time quickly progresses.
Then we have the Opec 'oil' nations of the middle east. These nations, combined, control 2/3rds of the worlds discovered oil reserves. These nations sit on some massive reserves of cash, and invest in anything and everything that provides sustainable returns, such as 10-12% per year. Furthermore, when one nation within these Opec nations is under severe debt, then they have no issues bailing each other out, using billions of oil dollars.
Then we have large hedge funds simply gambling investor money, for the sake of large financial returns. And I mean LARGE financial returns, in the billions. These investment agencies have no interest in morals, and in one case, the financial crash of 2008 was a collaboration with a large hedge fund which shorted toxic investments. Nonetheless, all hedge funds got away from any policy problems, although many collapsed.
We also have a nation such as Norway, with its large pools of oil dollars. Norway seeks to invest using moral judgement, and abstains from investing in anything that have a negative moral outlook, such as war, slavery, abuses, etc. Furthermore, their oil fund is used for the retiring population, and any time the country needs a quick influx of cash, although their economy is segregated from the oil fund as much as possible.
Ultimately, what binds each of these nations is that they are primarily uncontrolled by the traditional western nations. Instead, these countries may hold a-moral ideals, as long as their political, resource, and strategic agendas are met. This scares America, and even more so, European nations, which will continue to stagnate, as Asian countries grow in economic power.
Great, intuitive book!
October 15, 2010
The Shadow Market How A Group of Wealthy Nations and Powerful Investors Secretly Dominate The World By Eric J. Wiener
This book explains the flow of global capital away from the United States and Europe. It gives many reasons why Europe and the United States currently are not growing and are in a recession. The book describes how China, the Middle East, India, Brazil, and Russia are growing at an accelerated pace. It also describes how Norway has an outsized impact on global markets because of its oil fueled sovereign wealth fund.
We learn how private equity and hedge funds which have little or no oversite are moving capital away from the United States into areas where there is more opportunity for growth. There is no longer any responsibility to the country they operate in. The goal is to generate as much wealth as possible irregardless of where the wealth is coming from.
At the same time countries are creating investment pools called Sovereign Wealth Funds which use their capital to invest as a country. China, Norway, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates are some of the countries which have created these funds. They are often used to buy up land, commodities, and oil which the countries need to operate. In combination with government control of currency in places like China and Brazil, they create artificial markets where labor and capital is cheaper than in free markets.
Sovereign Wealth Funds are used to buy technology, commodities, oil, infrastructure, and development. They are sources for national capital not individual investors. This is a different kind of investing than the United States uses in the stock markest.
Not all of this is beneficial, many countries with Sovereign Wealth Funds use their money and oil for ends that are not beneficial to other countries. The author uses the example of Libya, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates as possible places which fund terror. He also describes how wealth is often used as a tool to push past human rights.
He also describes how the United States in its weakened condition is turning to more outside investment. The United States is increasingly encouraging foreign investment onto our shores. http://www.investamerica.gov/ It reminds me very much of how our multinationals once invested in South American countries.
I found the book to be informative and alarmist. It explained how the United States and Europe were losing their economic competitiveness. I think it is a wake up call. It reminds us that we cannot turn to the usual answers, but instead need to innovate, create new technology and ideas and put people back to work. It showed how the Middle East, China, Russia, Venezuela, Norway, and other countries are using their wealth on a national level to change the commercial playing field. It was well worth reading.
This book explains the flow of global capital away from the United States and Europe. It gives many reasons why Europe and the United States currently are not growing and are in a recession. The book describes how China, the Middle East, India, Brazil, and Russia are growing at an accelerated pace. It also describes how Norway has an outsized impact on global markets because of its oil fueled sovereign wealth fund.
We learn how private equity and hedge funds which have little or no oversite are moving capital away from the United States into areas where there is more opportunity for growth. There is no longer any responsibility to the country they operate in. The goal is to generate as much wealth as possible irregardless of where the wealth is coming from.
At the same time countries are creating investment pools called Sovereign Wealth Funds which use their capital to invest as a country. China, Norway, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates are some of the countries which have created these funds. They are often used to buy up land, commodities, and oil which the countries need to operate. In combination with government control of currency in places like China and Brazil, they create artificial markets where labor and capital is cheaper than in free markets.
Sovereign Wealth Funds are used to buy technology, commodities, oil, infrastructure, and development. They are sources for national capital not individual investors. This is a different kind of investing than the United States uses in the stock markest.
Not all of this is beneficial, many countries with Sovereign Wealth Funds use their money and oil for ends that are not beneficial to other countries. The author uses the example of Libya, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates as possible places which fund terror. He also describes how wealth is often used as a tool to push past human rights.
He also describes how the United States in its weakened condition is turning to more outside investment. The United States is increasingly encouraging foreign investment onto our shores. http://www.investamerica.gov/ It reminds me very much of how our multinationals once invested in South American countries.
I found the book to be informative and alarmist. It explained how the United States and Europe were losing their economic competitiveness. I think it is a wake up call. It reminds us that we cannot turn to the usual answers, but instead need to innovate, create new technology and ideas and put people back to work. It showed how the Middle East, China, Russia, Venezuela, Norway, and other countries are using their wealth on a national level to change the commercial playing field. It was well worth reading.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 8, 2015
Very disappointed with the author analysis of Libya-UK deal. Yes I agree with the author that Megrahi wouldn't have been released without The bp contract. However, the author ignores the fact that there is a huge controversy on Megrahi's responsibility of Lockerbie which is what the author himself admits at the beginning of the chapter. However to make his argument sound stronger he totally ignored that at the end of the chapter. He also ignores the fact that there are several legal experts, as well as the UN observers at the Lockerbie trial have vehemently, challenged the verdict that convicted Megrahi. Additionally he ignores that Ulrich Lumpert, the Mebo AG engineer who testified to the validity of a key piece of evidence, admitted in an affidavit to lying in court and stealing the object from his employer, after which he gave it to one of the crime investigators. So in brief the author's point is right, Libya used its geopolitical power to release Megrahi but you can't ignore the fact that holding him responsible in the first place was very controversial.
January 24, 2013
I bought this book to help study global trade however, the audience for this is the American DIY bomb-shelter crowd, so it was mostly unhelpful. What is it? A glance at global politics which fails to even properly explain what a Sovereign Wealth Fund is. Several times Weiner decides he knows the West is losing power, which is bad and it's all those hydrocarbon rich states at fault (Damn Norwegians) + China. And if you're sensitive to Orientalism, this book will give you a small rash.
December 16, 2016
Other than the occasional mix up where the author seems to consider Abu Dhabi and Dubai separate countries, this book was highly informative and also one of very few on this topic. Very interesting read!
May 19, 2022
Pros
Interesting, borderline fun/absurd stories about power plays by rouge nations
Cast a lot of light on how wealth some countries are compared to the vest
Cons
Slightly dated as it a lot has happened since 2011
Interesting, borderline fun/absurd stories about power plays by rouge nations
Cast a lot of light on how wealth some countries are compared to the vest
Cons
Slightly dated as it a lot has happened since 2011
May 10, 2012
Great read on what goes on outside and behind Wall street.
January 31, 2017
A good introduction to SWFs, their activities and the link to geopolitics, but the book doesn't provide an in-depth analysis.
May 19, 2014
I am not en expert in the economic sciences or in the details of the market, even after the melt-down in 2008. However, the title and the catch-line blurb of Weiner's hardbound book fascinated me.
I thumbed through it while in the store and, being a conspiracy theory addict. was immediately swept up by the text. Or is it being paranoid? Well, this book may not make one paranoid, but it will warn readers about future investments. Diversify overseas. Main point, I think, or, at least, the most important one. Don't believe that the dollar or our economy is the way it used to be. Either be prepared for the dollar value to fall even further or "get out of the way." Strong words from the author, but evidently worth heeding.
He mentions the big money countries in the world today - China, Japan, and Brazil, to name the major players. Even the Saudis took over a closed GE plant (which has reportedly polluted the water before they booked out of town) in Pittsfield, MS, and turned it into a plastics company. They were welcomed with open arms, despite those concerned about foreign interests. However, what caught my attention before the others was the many, many references to China. To make on overstatement, they seem poised economically to take over the world. After all, consider how much of our debt they hold. We constantly hear this but feel helpless to do anything about it.
I was interested in the China aspect because I taught English (literature, film, mythology, history of the English language, writing, etc) at several universities for seven years. I wasn't involved in the economy except as it impacted education -- which it did and undoubtedly still does. I went to China as a professor because the college where I was employed in Atlanta lost its accreditation along with most of its students. I had taught Chinese and Taiwanese students on weekends and came to respect their abilities and desire to work hard. I had also heard excellent reports about Asian students at Georgia Tech here in Atlanta, so I had high expectations for Chinese students.
I was immensely shocked and disappointed. I found not only lazy students who were guaranteed employment in their family's businesses (or a family friend's business) when they graduated but the existence of rampant cheating and grades being changed. I was even told to change the grades of my own students at three different schools. My classes were often way overstuffed with students -- sometimes the equivalent of three classes crowded in together. The purpose was not to see that the students were really being educated but that they were the source of considerable income for the institutes and those administrators with deep pockets.
Weiner's book was published in 2010, and I remained in China until 2012. Although I was only teaching classes, I did hear conflicting stories about the economy. I didn't see many of those people with the deep pockets, but I saw how the other half lived. I saw a gross amount of poor people hauling their 3 or 4 children on one bicycle or on one scooter. Poor farmers used mules to till their soil on fields near the cities, and sometimes a mule-drawn cart would haul a wagon down a city street. So many crippled and crawling people on the sidewalks begged for money (even though some of them were not for real but part of a scam).
Weiner's book mentions the mass construction projects going on, and I saw these-- but I also saw tall buildings being built that housed very few tenants. Even in the US, we have heard of the ghost towns, although there is some speculation regarding how many of these are really empty. I saw and heard about failed construction efforts, including one apartment building that fell over completely soon after being built. I also read about construction problems on building the railway system that Weiner mentions. The problem was the lack of safety guidelines (I did not see this in person -- again only reports and published stories with color photos). For some reason, not all reports, as Weiner suggests, were covered up.
China may have billions and trillions of RMB to invest throughout the world, but I did not see much going in the way of helping its own population. In 2005, I read that one-half of one percent of the population owned 60 percent of the wealth. Since I felt the pushes in the back from shoppers and Chinese teachers who clearly did not like foreign teachers "doing their jobs," I can state that many sides to this story of China exist.
So, sorry Eric. Even though your book appears to have been thoroughly researched and documented and is certainly a worthwhile find, I have to admit that my attention was drawn to it because of the conspiracy aspect of the title and catch-line on its cover. My curiosity continued because of the references to China. Indeed I learned a lot from your book, but living in another country for more than a year gives one another perspective. I did use two campuses in China for the background of one of my horror novels, DARK CORRIDORS, and plan to write more straight fiction about my experiences; I just hope that our economy as you perceive it does not prevent people from buying books in the future -- hard-bounds such as your comprehensive work or as e-books as in the case of my novels -- so far.
I thumbed through it while in the store and, being a conspiracy theory addict. was immediately swept up by the text. Or is it being paranoid? Well, this book may not make one paranoid, but it will warn readers about future investments. Diversify overseas. Main point, I think, or, at least, the most important one. Don't believe that the dollar or our economy is the way it used to be. Either be prepared for the dollar value to fall even further or "get out of the way." Strong words from the author, but evidently worth heeding.
He mentions the big money countries in the world today - China, Japan, and Brazil, to name the major players. Even the Saudis took over a closed GE plant (which has reportedly polluted the water before they booked out of town) in Pittsfield, MS, and turned it into a plastics company. They were welcomed with open arms, despite those concerned about foreign interests. However, what caught my attention before the others was the many, many references to China. To make on overstatement, they seem poised economically to take over the world. After all, consider how much of our debt they hold. We constantly hear this but feel helpless to do anything about it.
I was interested in the China aspect because I taught English (literature, film, mythology, history of the English language, writing, etc) at several universities for seven years. I wasn't involved in the economy except as it impacted education -- which it did and undoubtedly still does. I went to China as a professor because the college where I was employed in Atlanta lost its accreditation along with most of its students. I had taught Chinese and Taiwanese students on weekends and came to respect their abilities and desire to work hard. I had also heard excellent reports about Asian students at Georgia Tech here in Atlanta, so I had high expectations for Chinese students.
I was immensely shocked and disappointed. I found not only lazy students who were guaranteed employment in their family's businesses (or a family friend's business) when they graduated but the existence of rampant cheating and grades being changed. I was even told to change the grades of my own students at three different schools. My classes were often way overstuffed with students -- sometimes the equivalent of three classes crowded in together. The purpose was not to see that the students were really being educated but that they were the source of considerable income for the institutes and those administrators with deep pockets.
Weiner's book was published in 2010, and I remained in China until 2012. Although I was only teaching classes, I did hear conflicting stories about the economy. I didn't see many of those people with the deep pockets, but I saw how the other half lived. I saw a gross amount of poor people hauling their 3 or 4 children on one bicycle or on one scooter. Poor farmers used mules to till their soil on fields near the cities, and sometimes a mule-drawn cart would haul a wagon down a city street. So many crippled and crawling people on the sidewalks begged for money (even though some of them were not for real but part of a scam).
Weiner's book mentions the mass construction projects going on, and I saw these-- but I also saw tall buildings being built that housed very few tenants. Even in the US, we have heard of the ghost towns, although there is some speculation regarding how many of these are really empty. I saw and heard about failed construction efforts, including one apartment building that fell over completely soon after being built. I also read about construction problems on building the railway system that Weiner mentions. The problem was the lack of safety guidelines (I did not see this in person -- again only reports and published stories with color photos). For some reason, not all reports, as Weiner suggests, were covered up.
China may have billions and trillions of RMB to invest throughout the world, but I did not see much going in the way of helping its own population. In 2005, I read that one-half of one percent of the population owned 60 percent of the wealth. Since I felt the pushes in the back from shoppers and Chinese teachers who clearly did not like foreign teachers "doing their jobs," I can state that many sides to this story of China exist.
So, sorry Eric. Even though your book appears to have been thoroughly researched and documented and is certainly a worthwhile find, I have to admit that my attention was drawn to it because of the conspiracy aspect of the title and catch-line on its cover. My curiosity continued because of the references to China. Indeed I learned a lot from your book, but living in another country for more than a year gives one another perspective. I did use two campuses in China for the background of one of my horror novels, DARK CORRIDORS, and plan to write more straight fiction about my experiences; I just hope that our economy as you perceive it does not prevent people from buying books in the future -- hard-bounds such as your comprehensive work or as e-books as in the case of my novels -- so far.
September 26, 2024
An ok book about an interesting subject. Maybe it was more novel when it was published a decade or more ago. At times it feels like it strays too far from its subject, becoming generally about China or, weirdly, the Lockerbie bombing. The tone is also jarringly impartial at times. And the personal investing advice it gives at the end proved to be pretty bad with the benefit of hindsight.
September 28, 2017
Should you be a statesman and have a couple dozen billion USD at your disposal - do read this handy manual on sovereign funds. Just finished it on the subway.
November 23, 2019
Well written but never read a financial book about the last financial crisis looking for insight into the current state of affairs when it was written after the last financial crisis.
April 6, 2022
The books goes to look what’s behind the public announcements and what really happened in the markets and the strategic movement
March 8, 2017
Very interesting and scary to think about.
October 7, 2021
I love it. I will re-read again in the future.
November 6, 2012
Well. First, the title is the first indication of the misstep that is the Shadow Economy. The term is bandied about unendingly almost as a punchline but truly Weiner never gives a very rigorous definition of the term. The "Shadow" economy apparently consists of everything not regulated by the US government. Well, considering the extreme inroads financial interests have made into government power both foreign AND domestic, its basically a platitude. Moreso, its almost a bit ridiculous to suggest that money being invested around the world outside the US economy is somehow a shadow force colluding against it. The implicit argument there is that only regulated US money is the force of light and sunshine which is an even bigger pile of bullshit. Anyway, even if this were somehow true, it has very little to do with the actual substance of the book which meanders well off the beaten path of economic issues and into topics such as espionage, culture and soft power, diplomacy, militarism and terrorism, and information technology.
Don't get me wrong, there is a narrative here that is not spoken enough and it delves into investigative journalism that only is circulated amongst the wonk set but don't try to sell it as a commentary on underground economies. Perhaps the dots are there, perhaps the story he tells does somehow link into secret dealings, but he doesnt draw the lines if so, not all of them. Some of the topics go there such as discussing hedge fund maneuvers or sovereign wealth fund dealings, but the only narrative I see is a story of how governments use money in shady ways completely in the open.
I will blame myself at the end of the day on this one by saying I got this book for the wrong reasons. Having sought out books on black market economies, dark web transactions, and yes, unregulated (GLOBALLY unregulated) financial policy, I thought this was that. It isn't. So I revise this two star review to 2.5, I am certain if Weiner found out he would suggest that the increase came from the Shadow Rating System!
Don't get me wrong, there is a narrative here that is not spoken enough and it delves into investigative journalism that only is circulated amongst the wonk set but don't try to sell it as a commentary on underground economies. Perhaps the dots are there, perhaps the story he tells does somehow link into secret dealings, but he doesnt draw the lines if so, not all of them. Some of the topics go there such as discussing hedge fund maneuvers or sovereign wealth fund dealings, but the only narrative I see is a story of how governments use money in shady ways completely in the open.
I will blame myself at the end of the day on this one by saying I got this book for the wrong reasons. Having sought out books on black market economies, dark web transactions, and yes, unregulated (GLOBALLY unregulated) financial policy, I thought this was that. It isn't. So I revise this two star review to 2.5, I am certain if Weiner found out he would suggest that the increase came from the Shadow Rating System!
January 6, 2011
So far it is pretty scary. How could it escape the minds of our leaders that the ability to pay for something would in the end underpin economic power, or for them to forget that the world is so much smaller than it used to be.
The book itself is readable and I have the sneaking sensation that not all of its contents are "news". But the message is clear from the introduction and the details are just there to make it long enough.
For those of you who care about what I read, just look at the Tooze book reviewed earlier. It is clear from his work that WWII was won by having more money and resources and not due to the elan or professionalism of the troops. What makes the US government feel that it can forget these lessons from the past?
The book itself is readable and I have the sneaking sensation that not all of its contents are "news". But the message is clear from the introduction and the details are just there to make it long enough.
For those of you who care about what I read, just look at the Tooze book reviewed earlier. It is clear from his work that WWII was won by having more money and resources and not due to the elan or professionalism of the troops. What makes the US government feel that it can forget these lessons from the past?
May 13, 2016
This book pretty much shows how that the United States is BRIC's [Brazil, Russia, India, China] bitch, and they are double teaming us with the Middle East. There will be a major global money and power shift from the West to the East and the United States government will do nothing to stop it. We will become a poor and weak nation, and the United States government doesn't even want to make an attempt to stabilize it let alone reverse it. Most Americans who are used to a middle class lifestyle will now have to brace themselves for a life of poverty.
April 29, 2011
If they had a 2.5 star rating, I would have given it that. I thought he pointed out some shifts that most people haven't seemed to have internalized in global capital flows, but he has an annoying "sky is falling" chicken little tone to alot of his commentary. Furthermore, I thought he avoided developing some of the most important themes he raised - relying more on flat statements which although they may seem intuitive (ie, sovereign wealth funds must by definition change the nature of geopolitics), still begged more of an explicit development...
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February 8, 2011This book is about the Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) forming in China and other expansive economies in the world like China. These funds are often worth billions and even trillions of dollars. The emerging financial powers like China are using them to offset losses in their economies and also to buy businesses that can aid the domestic economies of China, Brazil and other rising economies in the world.
January 5, 2012
Ble akkurat ferdig med denne - en interessant titt på hvordan store, statseide pengefond (f.eks. Oljefondet) dominerer mer og mer av verdensøkonomien, og hva det betyr for oss (som f.eks. at vi bør lære oss kinesisk (neida/joda/neida)).
Den selger seg litt for hardt inn med å påstå at alt dette skjer i hemmelighet / at det nødvendigvis er en stor trussel - men boka i seg selv er lett å følge, svært interessant og lærerik. Anbefales!
Den selger seg litt for hardt inn med å påstå at alt dette skjer i hemmelighet / at det nødvendigvis er en stor trussel - men boka i seg selv er lett å følge, svært interessant og lærerik. Anbefales!
August 6, 2012
The book is good, but for some reason feels very incomplete. A lot of the arguments made in this book is credible and definitely deserves a read. The language is lucid and is not very hard to understand though the pleasure of reading this book would have multiplied if one has knowledge of international finance and global commerce.
October 5, 2012
Уникална дрисня, писана от пълен профан и бездарник. Как може да сбърка Катар с Бахрейн, и как мож да нарече уахабитския Катар - естествен съюзник на шиитския Иран. Има ли представа какви ги плямпа тоз палячо?
Икономически и политически анализ се прави със знания, а не с преписване на каквото си чул от жълтата преса, тиквенико.
http://lammothsblog.blogspot.com/2012...
Икономически и политически анализ се прави със знания, а не с преписване на каквото си чул от жълтата преса, тиквенико.
http://lammothsblog.blogspot.com/2012...
December 8, 2012
Insightful and explores what happens behind the scenes in the world economy. Highlights the fact that economic collapse or recessions for some are economic (and perhaps political) opportunities for others. Discusses the implications of economic strength and weakness and how things are interconnected in the new era of globalization.
July 23, 2016
Not just for investors. If you're interested in why it's so hard to get our government to listen to its own people and act justly, this will be a more in-depth/behind-the-scenes look than you get from mainstream news sources.
August 19, 2013
While writing "Secrets of the Italian Gardener" I was keen for any insights into how the global economy really works. This book was extremely helpful and an entertaining read in its own right.
November 1, 2013
Informative. A bit dry. Makes some good points.
Want to read
February 20, 2014
October 5, 2015
Well researched examples that illustrates the point of the book.
December 1, 2016
Excellent book for a gaining a boarder perpective on what moves the market
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