Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been on television promoting his new book, Beyond the Crash: Overcoming the First Crisis of Globalisation.
He became prime minister in June 2007 as the global financial crisis started to unfold. Brown resigned after his Labour government lost the general election in April of this year. He had served as Chancellor of the Exchequer before becoming prime minister.
Much of his book is about his role during the crisis, and what is best summed up as his "lessons learned."
During the interviews, Brown discussed the economic issues most of us have heard about -- saying the economy is more globally connected than ever, that rapid changes are ahead in the next decade, that Asia is on the rise, and that the West needs to be more prepared to serve Asian consumers.
And he elaborated on the need for financial actors to behave morally.
Brown also said the 18th century economist Adam Smith came from his hometown. The former prime minister claims that the famous Wealth of Nations was not as meaningful to Smith as his lesser-known book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments.
And while Brown acknowledges that the effects of the crisis are still with us, a Simon & Schuster book review says:
"Former British Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown believes the crisis can be reversed, but that the world's leaders must work together if we are to avoid a decade of lost jobs and low growth."
Moreover, Brown has said that he believes government action prevented a depression.
But at the risk of stating the obvious, the former prime minister's economic analysis is (at best) accurate based on the clause, "so far."
In other words, it remains to be seen whether the crisis is reversed and a depression averted.
EWI's Robert Prechter also wrote a book: Conquer the Crash: You Can Survive and Prosper in a Deflationary Depression. Here's a short excerpt from p. 18 of the second edition of this must read volume:
"If my outlook is correct, by the time the contraction is over, no economist will hesitate to call it a depression."
Here's an excerpt from Brown's Beyond the Crash:
"A future of low growth, high unemployment, decline, and decay is not inevitable; it's about the change we choose."
But collectively, we've already chosen. The September Elliott Wave Financial Forecast put it this way:
"Deflation is way past the point of no return. The main reason many believe otherwise is they think that the Fed and the U.S. government will not allow it. But the truth is that it was the government that locked in the case for deflation with its commitment to a credit-based economy decades ago."
Is it possible for individuals to conquer the deflationary crash we see ahead? Yes, in fact, you can survive and prosper.