|  | Author: Thomas H. Greco Jr.
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
List Price: $19.95
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Rating:  29 reviews
Sales Rank: 46373
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Pages: 280
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9
ISBN: 1603580786
Dewey Decimal Number: 332.49
EAN: 9781603580786
ASIN: 1603580786
Publication Date: June 4, 2009
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Showing reviews 21-25 of 29
 Empowering and articulate examination of money, economics, and the course of civilization June 8, 2009
Jed Shlackman (Miami, FL United States)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Greco brings us a very impressive overview of what has led to the current situation in economics as the "elitist" controllers of the system seek to impose their "New World Order." Greco has somewhat libertarian views, while he is also very conscious of how economics influences societies and the natural environment. Thus, as he details the history of how elitism has pushed aside egalitarianism in its push toward increased power and control, Greco prepares to offer potential solutions that empower local citizens and communities to establish cooperative and mutually beneficial economic systems that allow people to access goods and services that exist in a real economy. Our current economy is mostly based on artificial constructs which have been devised to facilitate the control of national and international economies and resources by a small elite group of financial interests and aristocratic families. Greco gives some valuable suggestions about how we can become independent of that old power structure as the drive toward a global order and repressive control pushes societies into increased chaos and distress.
This is not a topic where solutions can be implemented easily, and Greco explores existing ideas and recent efforts to create alternative economic systems. He provides an assessment of successes and failures in that regard. This is a good book for those wishing to learn more about economics and what we as individuals and groups can do to develop a more humanitarian and freedom-respecting system. It's not just outlining the history of elite conspiracies - it explores options we can implement to assert our independence from the most significant historical tool of control - economic manipulation.
Money 2.0 June 4, 2009
Stephen Balbach (Ashton, MD United States)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Overall I found this an interesting read, a bit challenging since I have no background in economics or finance, but was still able to piece together the big picture. I was struck how similar the issues are to the online world: free software vs. commercial (Firefox vs. Internet Explorer, Linux vs. Windows), community built websites (Wikipedia vs. Britannica). If you care about open source and open content issues, then the same sort of open, democratic, egalitarian ideals can be applied to the money system. It's remarkable once you see a vision of possibility, the old (current) money system seems outdated, and somewhat evil.
Greco shows that "elitism" - the central banks monopoly of credit - is at the root of the problem. The solution is to decentralize power and wealth by eliminating the banking credit monopolies which have a stranglehold on credit (money).. in other words, more openness, participation, "egalitarianism". Greco explains how to do this using what are called credit clearing or credit exchanges that can eliminate the need for money entirely. Just as banks already clear checks between one another in clearing exchanges, without actually moving money back and forth (debits and credits cancel each another), individuals could operate at the same level, without the need for money - or interest, or needing a bank for credit. Computers and the Internet make it more practical. It's an audacious long term vision - just as Creative Commons could take generations to make a dent in the stranglehold of copyright - but check it out and understand what's happening on the forefront of monetary reform.
 The Title Is Misleading To Me June 3, 2009
Jacqueline Lichtenberg (Arizona)
8 out of 21 found this review helpful
The End of Money and the Future Of Civilization is an irresistible title.
The book description says that the book explains what money is, where it originated, and how and why it's obsolete.
That isn't what the book is about. It isn't about money at all, actually.
This is a case of a very good book, a provocative and interesting book, being marketed as something it is not.
Or possibly, it was just me misleading myself. I have not read any of Thomas H. Greco Jr.'s other books, and this book (he tells us in the introduction) is a 30 year life's work project. So it's like reading the last in a series of novels before reading the first.
I expected something like Alvin Toffler's Future Shocka well documented piece of objective research spotting trends too large to see.
I expected an instructive book starting with cave-man barter, explaining how anthropologists discovered how the little blue shells from the Maldive Islands were used as money all around the Mediteranean, and on through Caesar's picture on coins and how Rome changed the world, and what that has to do with the USA and the far future. Or I expected a Kabalistic explanation of how Money (Pentacles) is crystalized G-d-force. None of that is in this book's opening chapters.
Greco starts by explaining who he is and where the concepts about Money that he's been writing about came from, then lays out his personal vision of what the USA is, how it got that way, and what that means about where it's going. It's not about money. It's about political control of the USA. There's very little here about humanity as a whole through time.
For 30 years, Greco says he's been working on the basis of an epiphany he had in grad school (working toward becoming a professor of business), explaining and proving the vision of the world he had in an inspirational flash back then.
This is a very personal book about a very personal vision of what's "wrong" with the world, based on a young man's campus generated insight. It uses references to "the right way" and "wrong way" frequently, promising to tell us "the right kind of medicine" for a paradigm shift away from control by a moneyed Elite to control by "the masses." The masses are always right. The elite is always wrong. No discussion, no shades of gray, no points of view that differ from the author's are treated with any respect.
Greco points to the philosophical arguments between Jefferson and Hamilton and the origination of the USA Central Bank as the source of all the things wrong with America.
Greco quotes and quotes ancient figures who agree with his point of view, and never mentions those who don't agree except to excoriate them as "elite" without explaining what's wrong with being good at what you do, which is what "elite" really means. The Marines are an Elite force - what's wrong with being a Marine? Greco doesn't address such concepts, and goes on for many long paragraphs about politics, hardly mentioning the real history of currency.
This is not a book that will teach you about the force majeure that can result from the flow of money around the world and how to position yourself to surf such a tsunami.
If you believe that people who get very rich or gain political control of vast public funds are inherently evil because they are few (therefore elite and good at their jobs just like Marines), then you will enjoy this book. If you aren't already convinced that "the masses" will make no mistakes running General Motors by popular blog and CNN pole results, you probably won't learn anything from this book.
If you don't know what you think about the flow of money around the globe, this book will not help you make up your mind.
The biggest practical change we can make June 2, 2009
Frank T. Millich (Charlottesville, Virginia)
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
We human beings are held back by the way we give away our power every day by using Federal Reserve Notes. Greco explains why and says what we can do about it. If you want to change the world - especially power structures - this is information you need to understand. He explains the evolution of money, how most current monies are destructive and centralize power, and how we can create alternatives.
Become informed about this crucial subject June 2, 2009
M. L Lamendola (Merriam, KS USA)
19 out of 21 found this review helpful
The fraudulent nature of our monetary system should now be obvious to everyone. But, it's not. However, the damage it causes is obvious and people are starting to realize the problems don't simply happen. They happen because fraud is built into the system.
When a very junior senator with one of the all-time worst voting records (F ratings from the citizen watchdog groups) can be "elected" to the Presidency of a nation staggering from massive debt illegally amassed by the two previous administrations and then push through a massive pork barrel spending plan, you know something is very wrong.
And you know that further debasement of a currency that lost 50% of its value over the last two decades is a given. This sorry state of affairs, however, is only a small part of the total fraud picture. There's more. Much more. And you are paying for it.
What's going on, that the criminals behind this sort of theft are not prosecuted? In a word, ignorance. During the 2008 "election" for President, the only candidate to talk about real issues was vilified and marginalized by the mudstream media. That candidate, of course, was Dr. Ron Paul. One of the things Dr. Paul advocated was an end to the Federal Reserve, also known as the Frauderal Reserve. Did he advocate that because he's the crackpot the mudstream media made him out to be? Or did he advocate that because he knows a few things that all Americans should know?
One way to answer that is to dust off an unused document called the U.S. Constitution and compare Dr. Paul's platform statements to it. Suddenly, he does not look like a crackpot, unless you consider all of our Founding Fathers to be crackpots. Four of our Supreme Court Justices do, but that's something other books explore. This book explores the colossal fraud conducted via our monetary system. By the way, we did have a functioning (as opposed to malfunctioning) system during our nation's history as late as 1863. Read about Andrew Jackson to learn more.
To understand this book, it helps to read many other books on money (which I have). I'm not talking necessarily about books written by activists or others with an axe to grind. On the reading list are many books that are just historical in nature and with no political agenda. What if you haven't read those books? The author provides enough background that probably you will "get it." He also provides basic analysis of money in action, by following money through various types of transactions. So, he's not talking abstract theory but he is explaining how things work.
For example, his discussion of what really goes on when banks charge "interest" (their word for it, but it's not actually interest in the real sense of the word). You follow the flow of wealth, and you see "interest" isn't wealth at all. It's money created out of thin air. Interest doesn't need to be like that, but it's how we do it today. This misapplication of the concept of interest has the same effect as adding water to milk. Or in this case it may be more appropriate to compare this dilution to the way a crack dealer cuts drugs to rip of his clientele. Same thing with "interest." Especially when it's compounding (growing exponentially). Even a cursory look at this situation shows it's unsustainable, yet we victims of this system permit this chicanery to go on.
The underlying problem is our system is based on debt instead of on credit. That isn't credit in the sense of "credit cards," but I won't explain it here. The author does an absolutely fine job of explaining the difference, and that explanation is a key feature of this book. When he explains how an existing mortgage system (not of Western culture) based on credit instead of debt works, you cannot help but ask, "Why don't we do it that way?"
We don't do it that way, because our debt-based system enables the most psychopathic of us to benefit at the expense of everyone else and they aren't comfortable trying anything that is win-win. Actually, we don't do it that way because, on the whole, we are ignorant of how a sensible monetary system should work and what we have instead. This book can correct that, one reader at a time.
Greco is a recognized expert on money, currency, and finance. He does an international business in speaking (at conferences) and advising on these topics.
This book does contain his opinions, but he explains those as such and justifies them in a fairly balanced manner. To do this, he draws on an astounding amount of the literature. The book is well-researched and the author is quite rational. I was impressed that the book contained no leaps of logic and that the quantitative analyses were good. After completing the book, I read his bio. Like me, he's been an engineer and entrepreneur and has an MBA. That could explain the orderliness of his thought process and presentation, plus his excessive research to make sure he has his facts right. Not all engineer/MBA types fit that profile, but most do. Unlike me, he's also been a college professor. Anyhow, the word "rigorous" is considered a compliment among types like us, and Greco deserves that compliment.
I also appreciate the fact that he explains why "backing the currency with gold" (redeemable upon request) would be disastrous and would not fix what's actually wrong anyhow. His explanation is "must read" stuff for people who are rightfully disenchanted with the way our monetary system cheats people.
This book consists of twenty chapters and an epilogue. It has two appendices, extensive notes, and one heck of a bibliography. While not formally divided into parts, the book does have three parts:
One. An explanation of the problem. What's wrong with our current system, what it's done to us, and where it's taking us.
Two. Explanation of money, currency, value, wealth, debt, and credit. And how they relate to one another and to a society.
Three. The solution. This is much more complex that the other two parts of the book. For me, it was harder reading because it was new material with new concepts. I'm not sure I grasped them all. I don't think I understand everything I know about it. One reason for my problem here is Greco doesn't trot out a slap-on bandage. There are nuances here, and by exploring and explaining them he is going to lose some readers along the way. But that's fine. If we all understand the first two parts, then we have solved more than half of the existing problem already. This third part is really for people who are ready to do something about the problem. And it's for policy makers so they can begin to grasp what a real currency would look like. It seems that right now they have no idea.
It's bothered me that in each of the federal "elections" in my lifetime, the Demopublican candidates have steadfastly refused to talk about any issues of any substance whatsoever. People see the election as a contest between the Crips and the Bloods, rather than as a choice between candidates who actually offer something other than more of the same criminal pillaging. Ron Paul offered that in 2008, but unfortunately ignorance defined the debate and he was forced out. Perhaps in four years, the American people will actually vote instead of wasting their vote on a Crips vs. Bloods contest. The lesser of two evils is still evil.
Real voting would be for candidates like Dr. Paul instead of yet another spendaholic Demopublican. But people who don't understand the real issues don't do real voting. Which is why we keep getting more of the same fraud perpetuated on us. Wars, inflation, mass unemployment, the IRS, and other pestilences are completely avoidable.
If this nation survives the damage inflicted by the current misadministration over the next four years, perhaps enough people will understand the money scam and vote in a legitimate, law-abiding government. One that can motivate people with respect, instead of fear.
In my lifetime, this country has gone from being the greatest nation on earth to being the poorest in human history. The primary tool of our demise has been this fraudulent monetary system. Now it would be a major feat for us to rise to third world status on some key metrics. That is a very sobering thing.
Read the book. Become informed.
Showing reviews 21-25 of 29
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