The Empire of Debt: The Rise and Fall of an Epic Financial Bubble(Agora Series)

Empire of Debt, by William Bonner and Addison Wiggin, is the third installment in a three book series of economic history and analysis. The other two books include Demise of the Dollar and Financial Reckoning. Collectively the authors take an often sardonic approach to the United States as the last in a long line of countries trying to manage a fiat currency; the economic booms and busts that are a hallmark of all efforts to manage the economy and financial markets throughout modern history and; specifically with respect to Empire of Debt, a look at the historical record – how the US has evolved from a thriving republic to resemble the empires of the past, including the Roman, Spanish, France and British empires. The Empire of Debt, that which the United States became, has a logic all its own.

The Empire of Debt spans the political development of US hegemony in the 20th stemming from the founding of the Federal Reserve in 1913 through to present machinations of the bank in the domestic and global economy.
In this new up-to-date (2023) third edition, the authors revise their position on many of the past 20 years of economic history – but not in a way you might think. Many of the forecasts they made have come to pass, some in even more dramatic fashion than originally envisioned. As such, much other current is a correction of tense, from what was forecast to what actually happen; from “what will” to “what did” happen.

The original forecasts made in Empire of Debt proved to be uncannily accurate. Therefore, the trends as seen then, and moving forward from now into the near future, portend new crises each one of a greater magnitude than the last. New crises will be met with more aggressive government and corporate responses, making it even more difficult for individual investors to navigate their lives economically, financially and politically.

The authors take a fresh look at the politics that led up to the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the proxy war between the West and Russia that began with the invasion of Ukraine. A revised take on Reagan’s legacy re-emphasizes the importance of understanding Reagan’s real influence on the Empire of Debt; Reagan made it politically possible for each party to move away from fiscal stewardship of the nation’s finances as part of their pitch to the American people. With a fresh look at how each administration grew debt at a blistering pace not seen before in relative peacetime, the US government and the global economy it had become increasingly dependent on were woefully unprepared for the crisis caused by the emergence of the COVID-19 virus. 

William Bonner is the bestselling author or coauthor of numerous books, including Financial Reckoning Day, Empire of Debt, Mobs, Messiahs and Markets, Hormegeddon, Dice Have No Memory, and The Idea of America. Mr. Bonner is the author of the classic Un-Civilizing America: How Win-Win Deals Make Us Better and shares his investment insights daily in a missive for Bonner Private Research found on Substack. He is the founder of the worldwide research network, The Agora, and an avid stone mason.

Addison Wiggin has been an executive publisher within The Agora for over two decades. He is the coauthor with Mr. Bonner of Financial Reckoning Day and Empire of Debt. Mr. Wiggin is the author of the bestseller Demise of the Dollar and writer and executive producer of the feature-length documentary I.O.U.S.A. which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Addison is the international director of The Gray Swan Investment Fraternity.