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The Great Devaluation: How to Embrace, Prepare, and Profit from the Coming Global Monetary Reset

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The Great Devaluation is about the imminent and future failure of the global monetary system. It covers the history of The Federal Reserve, how it was formed, why it was formed, and the secretive nature of the independent institution. The book also highlights how going off of the gold standard has facilitated the long-term devaluation of the US Dollar and has made the institution the most powerful in the world.

The Great Devaluation makes the case that years of manipulation by central banks have led to distorted and negativeinterest rates around the globe that central banks are powerless to normalize. This reality, coupled with ongoingmassive government debt and deficits, indicates that central bankers have lost control of the monetary system.The book will make the argument that the next recession will be the nail in the coffin for the Federal Reserveand the global monetary system as we know it. As this occurs and becomes more obvious, gold will explodehigher in value in the coming years. All of this is set against the backdrop of the ending of the super cycle which last roughly 90 years.

The book will highlight the major similarities between where we are today and where we were 90 years ago. It will examine the looming generational battle between Baby Boomers and Millennials and highlight how the next financial crisis will be a catalyst for a mindset shift away from monetary policies and more towards socialistic fiscal policies in the coming decades. The Great Devaluation warns readers and investors of the risks they are facing with the potential collapse of the US Dollar and the global monetary system. The book suggests that readers prepare in order to avoid the pain associated with the collapse of the US Dollar.

246 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 21, 2020

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439 people want to read

About the author

Adam Baratta

4 books6 followers

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5 stars
107 (34%)
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115 (36%)
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62 (19%)
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19 (6%)
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8 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
334 reviews5 followers
April 8, 2021
This is such a weird book. The more I think about Barattas arguments, the weirder the book becomes.

Let me begin with how Baratta seems to view gold. He says that gold is the only currency made by god and that it has innate value. Even if you believed in a god, that doesn't give gold value, other than being a rare mineral.
As stated by many economists, historians and writers; gold has value exactly because it is worthless and useless. He states that gold is something real, that you can touch and feel, unlike the dollar. Well, I have held a dollar in my hand. It was real and I touched it.
He also admits that gold is only worth what people are willing to pay for it, so it doesn't have value over what people want to pay. In this, gold is in no way different than any other currency, mineral, service and so forth.

Currency has never been made by any god, at any time. Currencies have been made by rulers or collectives, with a collective understanding that something has worth. It is created and maintained by faith in its value. So detangling the dollar from gold was not the first time in history currency was detangled from physical objects. Read Debt: The first 5000 years for a better glims into different monetary systems.

The book talks about the cost of social security and medicare for the older generations as a huge burden and that it would become higher with new reforms. The US already pays more for healthcare than most European countries, as well as everyone paying insurance as well. Seems like a good place to start if you want to save money and give people a better service.
And Bernie Sanders and the rest are in no way "far left" in any other country except the US.
Center right in some countries.

And over to the books main point:
This book is all about how gold, the big G is better than stocks.
Gold is up more than stocks over a 90 year period! Gold is up more than stocks in a 25 year period.
Well, that is true. Gold is however down in a 80, 70, 60, 40, 30 and 10 year period.
So if you buy gold, instead of stocks, outside of the two years he mentions in the book, you would lose money compared to stocks or often interest from a savings account.
There is a reason there aren't any graphs showing the price of gold over a longer time period in this book. As he says in chapter 20; sometimes when you lose, you lose. Or if you bought gold in 1934 or 1980, you lose big. Like really big. As big as most recessions, but over a much larger time frame. So it would take longer to recover, if you did at all.
He shows with graphs in the book how you didn't earn money on stocks between 1964 and 1985, or how DOW didn't recover after the great depression for 60 years.
Well, gold hasn't recovered from 1980 yet, and before that it used 38 years, from 1934 to 1972 before reaching its same height.
These are weird things not to mention, in a book that basically is about gold.

The book also uses a lot of time repeating itself. As it saying the exact same thing it did 2 pages ago, word for word. This happens a lot.

This book does a fair job in going through some history of both the FED, dollar, stocks and how printing money and low interest rates, lower taxes and such have influenced the market.
I find the insight a wonderful tool to have, even though he skips over anything even remotely negative about gold, and have some weird ideas about why gold has worth.
0 percent interest rate for the rich and how it makes companies buy back stocks and increase the wealth gap, is such a obvious thing, if you just stop for 10 seconds to think about it.
There are insights like this, as well as the comparisons of money printing to the stock market, that raises this book from a 2 to 3 stars.

Would I recommend this book? Probably. Just google historic gold prices before doing anything dramatic.
Profile Image for Amy.
299 reviews7 followers
August 16, 2020
A must read! If you want to know the likelihood of what's coming next, and you want to be prepared, this is your book. I'm not usually into financial books at a large scale, but the Covid situation so many unemployed, and the stock market still going up (what's wrong with this picture thought) made me want to know where the untruths and the skeletons in the closet were, so to speak. I got a history lesson on The Fed, the dollar, the Gold Standard etc... and was surprised how much I enjoyed how Adam Baratta gives us the information encapsulated in great stories. I read this in one day and worth it!
Profile Image for Ali Hassan.
447 reviews27 followers
October 7, 2020
The Great Devaluation may be one of the most timely books ever written on the state of the global economy. Baratta sums it up simply enough with the following idea:
“What seems crazy in normal times becomes necessary in a crisis.”
The Great Devaluation is a book that explains why the real crisis facing the world today is not the Coronavirus. The real crisis facing the world is explosive government debt and deficits. Governments are now left with no choice but to spend more than they make, borrow more than they can ever repay, and devalue their currencies to cover it all up.
Profile Image for Bianca.
315 reviews168 followers
November 18, 2020
If you're familiar with the author's background then you'll probably be familiar both with his strategy as well as what he advocates for. This is a book about investing amidst the imminent crisis of 2020 induced by the Covid pandemic, but a crisis which by design of the system would have been inevitable either way at some point in time. Specifically, it is a book for those who still have money to invest and are wondering what to invest in. You will also be reading about the previous crises and strategies adopted at the time versus why those strategies won't work now. Well argumented ideas as to why to invest in gold as a main asset. I was fascinated the most by the strategies used by the Federal Reserve and the way the US has handled recession in the past, which I was unfamiliar with, as well as by the attitude of tycoons and their never quenched money hoarding, which although obvious and nearly leading to a civil revolution in the US at present, was very well put into perspective in this book and refreshes in my mind the meaning of 'digging your own grave'.
Profile Image for Ania.
25 reviews1 follower
October 7, 2020
The content of this book is very repetitive and could have been included in about 30 pages instead of 200 or over. I was excited to read this book and quickly lost interest and had to force myself to finish it.
Profile Image for Anna.
685 reviews
gave-up-on
January 4, 2022
Couldn’t understand a thing…

Far better as an audiobook.
Profile Image for Zhivko Kabaivanov.
274 reviews9 followers
November 16, 2020
The Great Devaluation (2020) tells the story of an economy in crisis. The global monetary system is a house of cards perched on a mountain of debt that threatens to topple at any moment. The villain of this story is the United States Federal Reserve, whose short-sighted policies – which have only helped to line the pockets of the wealthy elite – have set us hurtling toward a downturn to rival the Great Depression. The stakes have never been higher for investors, but while fortunes stand to be lost, fortunes also stand to be made – by those who invest wisely.

755 reviews21 followers
March 17, 2021
The author is a gold bug, is dismissive of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, and sneers at Modern Monetary Theory which holds that debt is good and let's have some more. He does a great job of explaining what is going to happen in the near future and certainly leaves the reader with a good deal of food for thought.
Profile Image for GE.
65 reviews
April 21, 2025
這本書是之前在松山誠品看到的,書名叫做大貶值,正好與當今聯準會不停的量化寬鬆,導致各種金融資產貶值相呼應,隨手翻了一下目錄覺得不錯,便想找來看一下,看看作者對於目前的狀況有什麼見解與對策。

大貶值這本書的作者是亞當.巴雷塔(Adam Baratta),是一間美國貴金屬投顧公司「優勢金業」的合夥創辦人,所以這本書其實很大部分有其商業考量。

直接講對這本書想要表達的觀念:

經濟要崩壞了,趕快買黃金!

聯準會歷史
先來談談這本書的一些觀點,其實還蠻值得讓人思考。本書從美國的金融貨幣歷史開始談起,從剛開始聯準會成立的歷史就是保護銀行家,20世紀初期淘金熱與投機主義盛行,導致經濟大蕭條而美國政府沒有足夠的資金創造流動性,當時最有錢的銀行家J.P Morgan(對!就是現在摩根大通銀行的創辦人),對美國政府提供紓困資金,幫助政府走出經濟蕭條,也賺了一大筆錢。但經過幾次紓困後,有感於政府無力處理資產流動性問題,於是與幾個銀行家和政府一同商議成立聯準會。

其實聯準會雖然貴為美國政府央行,專門為經濟衰退時提供資金保護美國經濟,但主要目的卻是保護銀行家,畢竟是由銀行家成立了嘛!聯準會在美國的金融歷史以來扮演相當大的腳色,也是美國如今在全球掌握貨幣龍頭的關鍵成員,因為美國在一戰時投入較少,經濟受損程度小,讓全球投資者湧入美國市場,也將黃金帶入美國銀行體系,後因美國央行持有黃金最多,在之後的布列敦森林協定取得全球貨幣主導權,將美元訂為全球準備貨幣,美元貨幣與黃金掛勾。

期間發生過幾次美元貨幣信任危機,直到1971年尼克森總統宣布放棄金本位制度,正式開啟來資產飆漲的時代,只要經濟一出現危機,聯準會馬上就增加市場的貨幣量,手段包括了降息、購買公債、直到現在的量化寬鬆印鈔票、負利率等,都是為了穩定整個市場,這些手段也推升了金融資產價格,但實際上金融資產價值反而變小,相對於金融資產的飆漲但價值降低,貴金屬黃金之類的標的,因為具有不可替代性,價值反而可以水漲船高,價格也一路飆升,因此本書作者才會不斷鼓吹持有黃金。

黃金的特性
黃金是自古以來的交易工具,主要是有一些特性

1. 可交易,可分割,不會腐爛,可攜帶

2. 不會孳生利息、持有再多也不會生出黃金

3. 稀缺,所以價值穩定隨通膨成長

我對黃金的看法
實際上黃金就是因為有以上的這些特點,所以才不是一個良好的投資標的,因為黃金的價值就是根據目前物價指數上升,很少會有突然間的暴漲,加上因為不會孳息,也讓黃金註定只能賺取價差,不像其他的標的可以透過收取固定收益增加報酬率,綜觀黃金對美元的歷史,年報酬率遠輸給股票債券,儘管現在金融資產飆漲,如果之後暴跌,要讓所有投資人都轉進買入黃金,我認為可能性也不高,因為這種稀缺物標的還有很多,例如藝術品、古董等與黃金的性質幾乎一樣,長期來看黃金也不是一個投資的好標的。

本書作者從事貴金屬投顧,在這本書中毫不掩飾的提倡投資黃金的好處,但我個人認為如果把所有資產全部轉為黃金,其實風險非常高,本書出版於2020年5月,那時正值COVID-19爆發,股市全面下挫,黃金價格飆升,一度到每盎司2000美金的歷史新高,讓本書作者在寫書時提供一大支持,但創高之後就暴跌,那時我也有購入一些黃金,直到現在都還沒回本,因此我認為黃金不是一個穩健的投資標的。

另外本書作者在對比黃金跟股市時,都是使用道瓊指數,道瓊指數是價格加權指數,本身已經是一個失真指數,與實際股市會有很大的落差,而且書中的股市指數也是直接看數字,並沒有加入含配息後的報酬率,我覺得有隱瞞事實凸顯黃金優勢的嫌疑。

不過這本書除了提倡黃金投資我不認同之外,在資產泡沫的說明蠻發人生省,尤其是裡面有一章比喻聯準會與經濟是汽車技師與檸檬車的一段,將聯準會一系列的手段:降息、購入公債、量化寬鬆、印鈔票、購買垃圾債券等看成是為破爛檸檬車加油,但卻沒有為這台爛車安排修理,這些比喻完美解釋現在的處境,聯準會的降息量化寬鬆也助長了資產流向有錢人,讓貧富差距更加擴大。

儘管我不認同作者的all in黃金,��我還是有配一些黃金在我的資產分配(不到5%),主要目的還是分散投資,儘管也有很大一部分的人認為不需要配置黃金,但看過這本書之後,會對黃金有更多的認識。

Profile Image for Y T.
264 reviews3 followers
May 30, 2021
Took me a while to finish this book as I was busy with exams in between.

I don't disagree that the US is in big trouble with the mounting debts and when it finally blows up, it'll come suddenly.

Overall I found the writing a little simplistic without taking into account the other big player in the world - China. The author wrote that every country in the world have spent more than they earn, resulting in deficits. Can't be more wrong than that without considering China and Singapore.

Essentially, the author is very optimistic about gold and urges us all to consider it. Good alternative viewpoint which perhaps we should, if ever US gets to the point of raising it's price.

I did appreciate that he tried to update the chapters since the corona virus has became a pandemic.

Read for entertainment, take the advice with a pinch of salt.
Profile Image for Ietrio.
6,949 reviews24 followers
October 4, 2022
This is a book that goes all over the place. The general disorganization of the text is made worse by the general lack of understanding of any of the subjects at hand by the author. Overall, it looks like the book is made by newspaper headlines glued together by TV pundit drivel.

So the Fed is bad. The debt is bad. But Trump did not shut down the Economy fast enough?

The guy has a hard time understanding finance. The highest he can get is something along the lines *gold is real money*.

So is he really able to embrace or prepare anyone for the future? Nope. Would any of the fuzzy methods work? Sure, like with the Horoscope reading, with enough mental gymnastics one can do a lot.

And no, gold is not the answer. Anything higher than Baratta's understanding of history would show that in the current situation, gold is no better than paper money.
38 reviews
July 1, 2022
An interesting read if anything. I'm not sold on his predictions as of yet. Anyone can make a prediction about where things are headed and be right at least part of the time. But 2 years after this printing and not everything is happening as he claims it should. Could it still happen? Sure. Time will tell.

Some things I wasn't to keen on was the writing, at times, repeated itself. Like word for word...two pages later. And the editing wasn't the greatest. Words were clearly missing in places and wrong words were used. I apologize that I don't have any examples as I didn't write them down as I was reading.
Profile Image for Quinns Pheh.
419 reviews13 followers
November 16, 2020
The Federal Reserve (Fed), in the author’s opinion, has distorted the way of financial market operations. The policies has been funnelling wealth into the hands of investors and making it impossible to return to a more hands-off approach. As the Fed continues to pump money into the markets, the national debt got higher and devalued, that puts the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency at risk. The author suggests investing in gold funds, the one commodity assumed to stay, moreover, a safer bet for investors.
Profile Image for Eula C .
146 reviews1 follower
September 9, 2020
Very interesting book. Great insight into the current state of the financial system. Glad the author does not just paint a picture of doom and gloom but adds helpful advice. Plenty of references and support data. Our global economy is in trouble and smart investors need to know what to do. The author helps to open the door to smart investment and an insight into what our government has been up to.
Profile Image for Luke Durbin.
102 reviews5 followers
April 14, 2021
I expected this book to challenge my thinking about the global economy and markets and it did exactly that. I didn't necessarily agree with everything but the ideas are well thought through and articulated plainly.
The major downside is how time-specific the book is. It was written in 2019 and by its publishing in mid-2020 much of what was said was outdated (or had already been fulfilled in some cases) because of the pandemic.
227 reviews1 follower
April 18, 2022
The Great Devaluationwas published in July of 2020, eighteen months before I started reading it. I have been amazed at how many of Adam Baratta's predictions concerning how the economy would be impacted by the Covid 19 pandemic have actually come to pass. His foresight about our current economic woes was prescient and the Ukraine war has accelerated the problems. Still a very interesting read.
1 review
August 28, 2020
Great book. The author was good at e explaining why the devaluation is happening now and will continue for quite some time. It's time to consider more tangible assets such as real estate and gold.

I do recommend this book. I can't seem to get out of this application. It says I need more words.
1 review
March 8, 2021
It is a good book to catch some insights. Those indicators and barometers mentioned in the book are all good and critical. However, it sometimes lost its direction in describing. It could introduce some economic models or financial models that will be better for people to get more. Anyway, it is good still.
Profile Image for Laura Smith.
1 review
August 4, 2020
Fantastic. Wonderful information.

Wonderful book. Easy-to-follow solid information. Looking forward to putting this information to good use. I would recommend this book to everyone.
3 reviews
December 25, 2020
Great information that is relevant to today.

The authors understanding of the operations of the Federal Reserve show the only path forward. This was a good read and highly informative.
3 reviews
January 28, 2021
Some good data on the fed and markets. Clearly the author is a gold biased guy who’s external business benefits from a good gold scare. Last half mostly feels like a sell. Worth a read of the first half but if you can remember he is biased
Profile Image for Steinbjörn Jónsson.
24 reviews1 follower
April 11, 2021
Very interesting take on the current economic situation (in U.S. mostly, but applies to the world by default). Recommended for anyone who is critical of modern economic systems and the monetary control system of the central banks.
7 reviews1 follower
October 4, 2021
This book was the worst book I have ever read. It has inconsistent information that is just flat out wrong. His statements have little to no support. Most of all, Adam barely has an argument. The book is not worth the paper it’s printed on.
Profile Image for May Wong.
75 reviews1 follower
March 4, 2023
Other than gold - What about other candidates for reserves like cryptocurrencies, petrocurrency, digicurrency?
Thinking aloud Singapore created COEs out of nothing. But that is not really reserves. More like govt revenue..
Profile Image for Coco.
208 reviews
March 18, 2023
If you follow alternative economic views the information in the book presented is not new.

It would not be prudent to turn 100% into yellow metal though. You probably need to assess your asset allocation for the ideal mix.
Profile Image for Petr.
8 reviews
August 11, 2020
Simple and straightforward. Author is definitely very bullish on gold.
Profile Image for Mehri.
10 reviews10 followers
November 16, 2020
The key key message is: invest in gold, or cryptocurrencies pegged to gold.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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