"As the global economy struggles to avoid meltdown, so the greatest Ponzi scheme in history approaches its final death rattle. Politicians have stood by and watched the financial industry create a massive overhang of debt, a mountain of low quality assets - and ultimately, an economic disaster which has dwarfed all others. The Eurozone crisis and the LIBOR manipulation scandal are just two symptoms of a much broader problem: one of vastly excessive debt, regulatory failure, a culture of deceit on Wall Street and the City of London, and governments that have promised their citizens far more than they can deliver"--Publisher.

The world economy is now approaching the final death rattle of the greatest Ponzi scheme in history: a scheme in which politicians stood by as the financial industry and sovereign governments created a vast overhang of debt, a mountain of low-quality assets - and laid the foundations for an economic disaster which will dwarf any other in history. There are four possible outcomes for our future: * economic growth (unlikely) * stagnation (probable) * inflation (bad) * default (disastrous) Which of the four it will be depends on choices that are being made right now, not always wisely, by politicians, technocrats and bankers. Planet Ponzi is a provocative assessment of the state of today's global economy. Mitch Feierstein reveals the true debts of US government and the eurozone - the full picture, not the figures the politicians would have us believe.

A charming picture book telling the imagined story of a penguin who waddled his way into history as the symbol of a beloved publisher, timed to the 80th anniversary of Penguin Books. In The Journey of the Penguin, award-winning graphic artist Emiliano Ponzi delivers a boldly illustrated, wildly imaginative, and terrifically fun story that brings to life the 'dignified yet flippant' bird that Allen Lane chose as the image of his revolutionary publishing company. This penguin goes on an adventure that takes him on to New York and into the hearts of readers everywhere.

Just who was the man whose name has become synonymous with the classic “rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul” scam in which money from new investors is used to reward earlier ones? In December 1919, he was an unknown thirty-eight-year-old, self-educated Italian immigrant with a borrowed two-hundred dollars in his pocket. Six months later, he was Boston’s famed “wizard of finance,” lionized by the public and politicians alike. Based on exclusive interviews with people who knew Charles Ponzi, lent him their money, and exposed him, Donald Dunn’s Ponzi recreates both one of America’s most notorious and colorful financial con artists and the mad money-hungry era in which he thrived.

It was a time when anything seemed possible–instant wealth, glittering fame, fabulous luxury–and for a run of magical weeks in the spring and summer of 1920, Charles Ponzi made it all come true. Promising to double investors’ money in three months, the dapper, charming Ponzi raised the “rob Peter to pay Paul” scam to an art form. At the peak of his success, Ponzi was raking in more than $2 million a week at his office in downtown Boston. Then his house of cards came crashing down–thanks in large part to the relentless investigative reporting of Richard Grozier’s Boston Post. A classic American tale of immigrant life and the dream of success, Ponzi’s Scheme is the amazing story of the magnetic scoundrel who launched the most successful scheme of financial alchemy in modern history.

True stories of crime and punishment that will inform and educate anyone who wants to find out how to identify and avoid becoming entangled in an investment fraud.

One of the biggest myths about stocks is the belief that profits from stocks come from the earnings of the underlying companies, and when companies make money, they share the profits with their investors. But the reality is, profits from stocks come from other investors who are buying and selling stocks, and when companies make money, they keep everything. The belief is, stocks represent value in a company. The truth is, stocks are Ponzi assets because investors’ profits are dependent on the inflow of money from new investors and no one is obligated to pay the shareholders anything. This is not just another story that will disappear after another bubble bursts. It is an idea that will remain relevant for as long as the stock market exists.