In The Coming Economic Earthquake, Larry Burkett offers a stark warning about the future of the American economy from a Christian perspective. Burkett, known for his economic principles shared on Christian radio, explores the dangers of uncontrolled government spending, suggesting a severe day of reckoning -- an economic earthquake -- is on the horizon.

I read this book twice over a period of several years. I kept coming back to it because of it's accessible narrative. The author demystifies complex economic concepts for the average reader (likely honed from years of experience in radio broadcasting). The book is part history lesson and part novel, as the author weaves fictional (cautionary?) tales between his more explanatory chapters.

The book's first half provides a historical backdrop of the U.S. economy, tracing pivotal moments from the establishment of the Federal Reserve through the Great Depression, WWII, and various economic crises. It does a good job of explaining history and setting the stage for understanding today's economic challenges. Later in the book he identifies a series of signals (predictions) which portend a coming collapse. His description of risky banking practices and loans to notably unscrupulous characters like Donald Trump made me laugh...and then realize time has borne out his prediction.

Here are some of his key points:

• Accumulating federal debt and misuse of debt by businesses and households are an impending disaster. Without significant changes, like a balanced budget and other controls on entitlements, an economic collapse (debt spiral) is inevitable.
  
• Keynesian economic policies, which advocate for continuous federal deficits and a larger government role in the economy, are unsustainable.
  
• Hyperinflation, similar to post-WWI Germany, and a deep financial depression, is on the horizon. The warning signs he identified in chapters 12 and 13 have all been observed in the last 33 years, including his prediction of "monetary equalization" (which today we know as "quantitative easing").

Although some of Burkett's predictions may seem extreme (such as the collapse of the dollar being orchestrated by evildoers at the World Bank -- as described in his final cautionary tale), many of his signs of economic distress are now visible. His advice on individual financial preparedness, advocating for debt avoidance, living within one's means, prioritizing retirement planning, and engaging in the political process to encourage a stable economy, remains as relevant today as it was over three decades ago.

Overall, The Coming Economic Earthquake is a good read for those interested in economic theory, fiscal policy, and personal financial planning. There weren't too many Christian overtones, despite Burkett's background. I've added it to my permanent financial insights bookshelf along with other topics as The Bitcoin Standard and The Creature from Jekyll Island.

Whether or not you subscribe to Burkett's predictions, the work serves as a thought-provoking analysis of the potential consequences of unchecked economic policies in a world of fiat currency.

Review Post Script

I found the closing below in an earlier draft of my review, written back in February 2022 after my first reading of Burkett's work. I think it still has value.

As I worked my way through the second half of the book, the idea that this book was a "history of the future" was foremost in my mind. Mr. Burkett's writing is prescient. There are far, far too many parallels with what has happened in the 30 years since its publication: bank failures, government bailouts, quantitative easing to fund the debt, and even centrally-controlled digital currencies.

This work makes clear that the world we know today (the world of fiat currency and a debt-based economy) was destined to fail from the outset. We are only waking up to it today. Fortunately, today we have a way out -- pure peer-to-peer currency. Money out of the hands of the banks and governments. Sovereign currency that can't be debased. Bitcoin.

I am now more convinced than ever that adoption of a bitcoin standard is the only thing that can save the world. ( )

When I bought this book in about 2007, I concluded that Burkett was overly alarmist, the American economy was far more robust than he thought and the broad and deep financial collapse he predicted back in 1991 for somewhere around 2000 had proved not to be as bad as he expected. In 2010 we can now see that he was prescient about the consequences of unsustainable debt, both private (mortgages, leases, etc.) and public. The only flaw was in WHEN it would occur, not whether.

The astonishing debt load recently assumed by the US Government and many state governments, along with continuing profligate spending and waste, all in the name of "stabilizing the economy" can accomplish little. As demonstrated by Burkett almost 20 years ago, it is quite predictable that things will get worse until governments start to live within their means. And the European Union is showing just how bad it can get with the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain), especially Greece, leading the way. Read this book, get out of debt, and get your own financial house in order.

Peace and Safety. That's the economic news and forecast from the White Souse, the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Treasury, and a web of enormous banks and insurance companies. The face is that America faces its greatest financial crisis in history during the 1990s. As massive government debt exceeds the total net worth of the United States government, the ever-growing need for new revenues will bring massive tax increases and soaring interest rates. Your Task: Service. In The Coming Economic Earthquake, Larry Burkett issues a warning of fast approaching destruction, and a map of escape for those wise enough to read the signs. "If I'm wrong, anyone who follows the directions given in this book will be better off financially. If I'm right, they will be among the few to prosper in what may well be the greatest economic calamity of the millennium.

Case 14 shelf 4

I only wish I had followed his advice... ( )