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Wealth, War and Wisdom

Author: Barton Biggs
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Category: Book

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Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

4 reviews
Sales Rank: 9310

Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 358
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.5 x 1.3

ISBN: 0470223073
Dewey Decimal Number: 332.60904
EAN: 9780470223079
ASIN: 0470223073

Publication Date: January 29, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: A BRAND NEW COPY DISPATCHED FROM THE UK WITHIN 48 HOURS BY ROYAL MAIL, OVERSEAS ORDERS SENT BY AIR MAIL.

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Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars

A study of stock market through World War II April 7, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This is a review of the events of World War II (WWII) and its impact on the stock market worldwide. This work is of great interest since we live in post 9/11 era filled with conflict, threat of another world war and increasing scarcity of resources. The book chronicles the history of death, destruction and the grim realities of WWII in great detail and its impact on stock market in both losing and winning countries. Stock markets were always one step ahead of actual events in estimating, analyzing, and deciphering the economic future through changing stock prices. The author suggests that investor crowd always had a great intuitive wisdom and imagination: Stock markets are like voting machines.

There are some very interesting tales of how stock markets performed during critical stages of the war. Just before the battle of Britain in 1940 the British markets bottomed out; the German market peaked after the attack on Russia; and in October 1937 the American markets collapsed and exactly 50 years later in Oct 1987, the same fate engulfed the stock market. Part of problems in 1937 may be due to President Roosevelt's attempt to pack the Supreme Court and his agenda of balanced budget when the country was still reeling from Great Depression. This is quite an interesting study of history and vividly describes the strategies and attitudes of leaders like Hitler, Churchill, Stalin and President Roosevelt. Stalin's ruthlessness against his own people resulted in the loss of four-and-half million lives between 1936 and 1939. There is also an interesting tale of how President Harry Truman's letter to Washington Post music critic Paul Hume when he gave unpleasant review of his daughter's concert. President Truman's letter gave the stock market a great scare which goes to prove an apparently insignificant incident could foolishly impact the investor's decisions.

What is the take home message of this review; according to the author, diversify your fortune and anticipate troubles and pay close attention to stock markets. Equities are the place to be in the long run because of their proven ability to increase the purchasing power of capital. Another part of your diversification strategy is to own a farm or a ranch as an insurance policy. The control of food producing land is a basic instinct of mankind. Stockpiling some essentials like canned food, wine, medicine, and clothes is not a bad idea if you have learnt something from the events of WWII in Germany, Russia and elsewhere in Europe. The author is vivid in depicting the grim realities in metaphor; when Four horsemen of the Apocalypse; Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death visit this planet again. Imagine the possibilities, in fact there is a great deal to learn from the history.

1 out of 5 stars

An interesting theory but too long and carelessly written February 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Biggs' central observation that stock markets sometimes collectively "know" things that are not obvious at the time is interesting and well-illustrated. But the key points could have been made in a much more compact book. He spends an inordinate amount of time behaving like a frustrated historian, giving trivial and irrelevant details of battles, especially the Pacific theatre in World War II. Particularly annoying is the apparent lack of any competent editing or proof-reading: the book is full of repetitions, factual errors, incorrect references and spelling and punctuation mistakes.

2 out of 5 stars

An Anecdotal History of World War II and the Korean War Along with Some Stock Price Charts February 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

The content in this book about how wealthy people might protect themselves during war times and economic disasters could have easily been put into a small essay. The rest of the book describes Barton Biggs' views of World War I, the great depression, World War II, and the Korean War. That backdrop is provided so that he can demonstrate that national stock markets typically bottomed around the time when the course of a war turned in favor of the eventual victors (or a stalemate as in the case of Korea).

Mr. Biggs makes sweeping statements about the nature of conflicts that he never proves. He mostly recounts from other books when not expressing unsupported opinions.

In addition, the book is repetitive and not well organized.

In my opinion, no one needs to read this book. If Mr. Biggs will skinny it down into a 2,000 word essay, that essay would be worth reading if your liquid net worth is over a million dollars.

2 out of 5 stars

Barbarians at the Gates January 5, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

Barton Biggs was a financial market analyst and strategist with Morgan Stanley for thirty years and is a self-proclaimed World War II enthusiast. Most of this book is an overview of Soviet, German, and Japanese aggression from 1929-1945 and how these events impacted each of the major countries economic condition. He tries to convince us that those who were actively trading in the market during these times were able to accurately determine the turning points in the war for each country before any one who worked in news media, the respective governments or the military. Though he also points out how two countries investors were completely wrong in their investment choices. I felt an underlying desire that the author is trying to be authoritative on how to preserve wealth during times of crisis. Note: I would not use this book in any form as a reference.

This book is somewhat interesting yet naive look at the war years and their affect on wealth. It seems as if he chose his view of history. For example most professional historians write that Pearl Harbor was not an unexpected attack. The book gives us insights at how Mr. Biggs see the correlation of the world events and the great foresight of investors. The author only states the obvious in this book as it comes to the equity markets in countries that win or lose a war. The winning countries always have a reasonably good chance of preserving wealth while the vanquished ones do not. His solutions are also obvious, and ones that the wealthy have always tried to do in times of turmoil. Move money offshore when possible and make sure you have a source for obtaining food and clothing.

I was expecting to read a book that had true research performed. This book is only the authors' own views on the period and on how to preserve wealth in what may be an upcoming turmoil. It is shown that most of the time land would preserve wealth in most countries over time. His suggestion is to buy a remote self-sufficient farm. And from history you would take the rest of your wealth and buy gold or jewelry and bury it like they did in France. He leaves us with a choice of a self made sanctuary or roving around as part of a marauding band seeking food.