In addition to training Lola to sit, stay, and fetch, we are also teaching her about the economy. Shand reads her a chapter from James Rickards' Currency Wars. In the past we've feared nuclear war and biological warfare. Now we must fear currency war.
Excerpt from the book summary on the Penguin website:
"In 1971, President Nixon imposed national price controls and took the United States off the gold standard, an extreme measure intended to end an ongoing currency war that had destroyed faith in the U.S. dollar. Today we are engaged in a new currency war, and this time the consequences will be far worse than those that confronted Nixon.
[...]
As James Rickards argues in Currency Wars, this is more than just a concern for economists and investors. The United States is facing serious threats to its national security, from clandestine gold purchases by China to the hidden agendas of sovereign wealth funds. Greater than any single threat is the very real danger of the collapse of the dollar itself."
I've yet to read the book, and I will do so as soon as Shand is done reading it. (We are borrowing it from the library - because of the currency war, we can no longer afford to buy books.) I think this book will help me better wrap my mind around what's going on with the economy. But I have noticed this - within the last few weeks, the cost of food and fuel have both been rising dramatically.
It's getting to the point that for the first time in my life, I am seriously doubting being able to cover my costs of living, unless I start going into credit card debt (which I have avoided all my life, except for a stupid 1-year period). To cut back on our expenses, we are also keeping our heater running at 65 degrees (instead of the usual 68), not going out to eat or drink except on very limited occasions, and generally reusing as much as we can. What are you doing to be financially sustainable?
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