The Death of Money：The Coming Collapse of the International Monetary System

　　《下一波全球貨幣大戰》詹姆斯．瑞卡茲敲響美元的末日警鐘

　　國際貨幣體系在過去百年間崩潰過三次（1914、1939與1971年），每次引發的原因不外乎戰爭、內亂或是全球經濟動盪。在華爾街工作超過三十年的詹姆斯．瑞卡茲推斷，國際貨幣體系崩壞即將再度崩盤！二戰後美元一直是全球的儲備貨幣，面對新興國家帶來的貨幣挑戰，美元若無法應對而崩壞，全球經濟勢必也會隨之震盪，甚至重挫眾多國家金融市場的運作。

　　貨幣是短暫的，財富是永久的，尤其當後者可以在國際間自由流動時，貨幣的價值便相形失色。政府、銀行與金融機構這些主事者，可以制訂新的遊戲規則來降低貨幣體系崩壞帶來的損失，但一般投資大眾卻未必那麼幸運。因此瑞卡茲在本書中不僅要警告眾人迫在眉梢的美元危機，更要指引一般投資者一條生路，做好萬全準備迎接未來。

　　"The next financial collapse will resemble nothing in history. . . . Deciding upon the best course to follow will require comprehending a minefield of risks, while poised at a crossroads, pondering the death of the dollar."

　　The international monetary system has collapsed three times in the past hundred years, in 1914, 1939, and 1971. Each collapse was followed by a period of tumult: war, civil unrest, or significant damage to the stability of the global economy. Now James Rickards, the acclaimed author of Currency Wars, shows why another collapse is rapidly approaching — and why this time, nothing less than the institution of money itself is at risk.

　　The American dollar has been the global reserve currency since the end of the Second World War. If the dollar fails, the entire international monetary system will fail with it. No other currency has the deep, liquid pools of assets needed to do the job.

　　Optimists have always said, in essence, that there's nothing to worry about — that confidence in the dollar will never truly be shaken, no matter how high our national debt or how dysfunctional our government. But in the last few years, the risks have become too big to ignore. While Washington is gridlocked and unable to make progress on our long-term problems, our biggest economic competitors — China, Russia, and the oilproducing nations of the Middle East — are doing everything possible to end U.S. monetary hegemony. The potential results: Financial warfare. Deflation. Hyperinflation. Market collapse. Chaos.

　　Rickards offers a bracing analysis of these and other threats to the dollar. The fundamental problem is that money and wealth have become more and more detached. Money is transitory and ephemeral, and it may soon be worthless if central bankers and politicians continue on their current path. But true wealth is permanent and tangible, and it has real value worldwide.

　　The author shows how everyday citizens who save and invest have become guinea pigs in the central bankers' laboratory. The world's major financial players — national governments, big banks, multilateral institutions — will always muddle through by patching together new rules of the game. The real victims of the next crisis will be small investors who assumed that what worked for decades will keep working.

　　Fortunately, it's not too late to prepare for the coming death of money. Rickards explains the power of converting unreliable money into real wealth: gold, land, fine art, and other long-term stores of value. As he writes: "The coming collapse of the dollar and the international monetary system is entirely foreseeable. . . . Only nations and individuals who make provision today will survive the maelstrom to come."

作者簡介

詹姆斯．瑞卡茲（James Rickards）

　　律師、投資銀行家兼風險經理人，在華爾街工作超過30年。受聘美國國防部、情報界，為主要避險基金業者提供全球金融顧問，曾協助策劃五角大廈歷來首度舉行的金融戰爭演習。

　　瑞卡茲經常接受世界知名財經頻道CNBC、有線電視新聞網CNN、福斯（Fox）、C-SPAN電視頻道、彭博電視（Bloomberg TV），和國家公共廣播電台（NPR）採訪。

　　目前任教於在西北大學和高等國際研究院。

　　JAMES RICKARDS is the author of the national bestseller Currency Wars, which has been translated into eight languages and won raves from the likes of the Financial Times, Bloomberg, and Politico. He is a portfolio manager at West Shore Group and an adviser on international economics and financial threats to the Department of Defense and the U.S. intelligence community. He served as facilitator of the first-ever financial war games conducted by the Pentagon. He lives in Connecticut.