The Little Book of the Shrinking Dollar: What You Can Do to Protect Your Money Now

by Addison Wiggin

With the weakening dollar a hot topic for retirees, savers, and investors, this Little Book delves into the economic turmoil in the U.S. and shows how to survive it The United States dollar is losing value at an alarming rate. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) index, the U.S. currency is 37 percent below fair value against the Australian dollar and 20 percent versus the Canadian dollar. The decline of the U.S. dollar is one of the biggest threats facing American investors today, but with the Little Book of the Shrinking Dollar: What You Can do to Protect Your Money Now in hand, you have the knowledge and the expertise you need to fight back. Written by New York Times bestselling author Addison Wiggin, a leading economic forecaster, the book explores the reasons for the dollar's decline, and its precarious relationship to other currencies around the world. Filled with invaluable strategies for retirees, savers, and investors who want to keep their money safe no matter what lies ahead, the book is your one-stop guide to weathering the storm. The U.S. dollar is no longer the secure and stable currency that most Americans grew up believing in. Even after recent gains, the dollar remains weak. But with the Little Book of the Shrinking Dollar you have a concise guide to what's driving its demise and everything you need to protect your money today and in the years to come.

Genres: Money, Finance

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book expecting an in-depth discussion about why the value of our money is decreasing and why inflation might be expected. It became quickly apparent that this book is a bit too short to go into the explanations and reasoning. Basically the author describes an expected outcome of various policies and situations without defending his position. As I have read many books on the topic, I could make my own associations of where his ideas come from, but I would find that "lacking" if it were the primary book I read on the subject. The fact it is so short, though (only about 140 pages) makes it a good book either for a first look at the topic or for a way to pick summary points.

I highlighted multiple ideas in the book not because I think they are necessarily correct or even feasible for me in some cases, but because they make an appropriate list of considerations when sitting down to do your financial planning. I ended up with so many highlights on the library e-copy that I decided to purchase the ebook so I could refer back to it later.

It does appear the book could have used some more thorough editing. Sometimes grammatical weaknesses make it hard to follow a particular sentence without twisting it around in your brain and then reading surrounding sentences for context. Note that some of the author's recommendations also apparently refer to the investment company he works for (Agora Financial), but there is plenty of advice to follow without ever doing business with them.

[Jerry Wall · Rating 1 out of 5]

dollar will lose value and each investor needs gold.
etc.

[J.B. Siewers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much new, seems to be a "position book" to promote certain investments. Written in 2012, debt was at 15 trillion and inflation at 3% ? Fast forward to $31 trillion and 8.2% today. The U.S. is very adept at kicking the can down the road. Good overview of

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is interesting to have read this book in 2023-2024, to see how things are now versus how they predicted it would be. The book had some good tips but basically seemed like an advertisement for gold.

[Paul Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit alarmist. Some good information so a worthy read. Agree Washington needs to be more fiscally responsible. Won’t happen because no politician wants to tell voters they can’t have something.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rule for life: Anything that Agora publishes - do the opposite and you will have a very successful investing portfolio.

[Sean Goh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book written by a dollar bear (i.e. one with little confidence in the future of the USD), it offers a hard-headed view of how the printing and borrowing fueled fed-financing will grind to a halt sooner or later. Nice as an opposing viewpoint to the proponents of all the QE going on, but sprinkled here and there are self-serving paragraphs praising Agora Financial's investing decisions, which rubbed me the wrong way.

[Gregory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Front piece for AWAI...Agora publishing. Gold. Commodities. Failing dollar. are our purported salvation.

[Julie]

He lost me when suggesting one moved their whole self out of the country to protect their wealth. I'm not the right audience for this one.