Endgame: The end of the debt supercycle and how it changes everything by John Mauldin and Jon Tepper
I read Endgame earlier this year, and I think it’s one of the most important and topical books regarding what’s going to happen in the world over the next several years. The book covers how most major governments are saddled with an extraordinary amount of debt. It was written last year, before things really started unwinding this summer.
Mauldin writes a weekly email that you should subscribe to, and the book isn’t that different than most of the articles he writes. The first part of the book covers the setup to how deficits were created, especially as governments bailed out the economy from the credit crisis. I tried to read the book This Time It’s Different earlier this year, but it was too technical. Endgame summarizes the book in a chapter, which is well worth it.
The second part of the book covers most major governments and the mess they’re in. It was pretty interesting that some people were more concerned about the US than many other countries because of all the the state and private debt. PIIGS countries are pretty messed up, and he doesn’t really offer many solutions. The UK isn’t in good shape, but at least they can inflate it out.
The book concludes with some advice about how you should invest if we see inflation and how if we see deflation. Since they’re effectively opposites it’s not particularly useful. I’m betting on inflation. So, if you’re into thinking about the debt crisis situation, I recommend the book. I wish I could be more specific in the recommendation and takeaways, but really I think I liked just taking the time to think about the debt situation in a structured way.
- Interesting: Medium
- Informative: Medium
- Engaging: Medium
Note, my book notes are probably more for my own benefit than yours. This just provides a refresher of content as a way to remember what I learned
