The World Is Curved: Hidden Dangers to the Global Economy

The World Is Curved: Hidden Dangers to the Global Economy

Product Description

David Smick keeps a low profile, but experts consider him one of the most insightful financial market strategists in the world. For more than two decades, he has conferred with central bankers (such as Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke) and advised top Wall Street executives and investors, from George Soros to Michael Steinhardt to Stan Druckenmiller. Political leaders (from Bill Bradley to Jack Kemp) have regularly sought his policy advice.

The World Is Curved picks up where Thomas Friedman’s The World Is Flat left off, taking readers on an insider’s tour through the private offices of central bankers, finance ministers, even prime ministers. Smick reveals how today’s risky environment came to be—and why the mortgage mess is a symptom of potentially far more devastating trouble. He wrestles with the two questions on everyone’s mind: How bad could things really get in today’s volatile economy? And what can we do about it?

Drawing on riveting anecdotes in language anyone can understand, Smick explains:

• Why the churning cauldron we call China (the next great bubble to burst) represents a powerful threat to everyone’s pocketbook
• How Japanese housewives have taken control of their nation’s savings, and why it matters to us
• How greed-driven bankers and investment bankers have put everyone’s pensions and 401(k)s at risk
• Why today’s “incredible shrinking central banks” may not be able to save us when the next crisis hits
• Why the big-money Russian, Chinese, Saudi, and Dubai sovereign wealth funds represent a tectonic shift in global financial power, away from the United States, Europe, and Japan
• Why the world desperately needs a “big think” financial doctrine to guide today’s dangerous ocean of money

The World Is Curved is the rare book that speaks simultaneously to the Wall Street, Washington, and London elite, yet its apt storytelling shows Main Street readers how to survive in these turbulent times.

Editorial Reviews

Review
“The World Is Curved is an essential read for those who wish to understand the workings, politics, and distresses of the global financial system. David Smick has done an outstanding job in drawing on his interactions with many of the key players in international finance to produce an insightful and entertaining book.”
—Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board; author of The Age of Turbulence

“David Smick understands, as few do, that international finance depends on politics and passions as much as on policies. Agree or disagree, his sense of where we have been and where we are going deserves close attention. He writes in a way that makes giving close attention a pleasure.”
—Lawrence H. Summers, former U.S. secretary of the treasury

“Smick is a world-class thinker. Any serious investor must read what he has to say.”
—Barton M. Biggs, Traxis Partners; author of Hedgehogging and Wealth, War, and Wisdom

“The World Is Curved makes transparent all the challenges facing today’s new global economy. Read along while Smick exposes the hidden global economic dangers and what steps must be taken to correct an imperfect system.”
—Bill Bradley, former U.S. senator

“The World Is Curved affords an engrossing look at the edifice upon which global finance has been built. It’s a vision we ignore at our peril.”
—George P. Shultz, former U.S. secretary of state

“This is a very inspiring and intellectually stimulating book that makes remarkably transparent a number of factors behind the booms and busts of today’s global finance.”
—Jean-Claude Trichet, president, European Central Bank

“The World Is Curved is a brilliant, if disturbing, exposé of today’s global financial minefields and an equally compelling description of possible remedies. The next president would do well to read this book.”
—Lawrence Eagleburger, former U.S. secretary of state

About the Author
David M. Smick advises some of the world’s most successful money managers through his investment and strategic consulting firm, Johnson Smick International, Inc. He is also the founder, editor, and publisher of The International Economy, an acclaimed quarterly. He has served as an adviser to both Republican and Democratic presidential candidates and has written for such publications as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.