Bøger af Jon Amsden

When Empires Fail presents western empires back to Cyrus II of Persia in terms of the thermodynamic signature of society in each case. In other words, five ways in which human civilizations, in their imperial development, have used energy are considered, these being: muscle power, wind and water power, steam power, internal combustion. and now nuclear power. The last empire to be analyzed is the American one which is presently stressing its resources to remain in the fossil fuel combustion stage of thermodynamic development. Powerful leaders described for each age include: Caesar Augustus, Ibn al Sinna, James Watt, and Henry Ford. The final chapters on the present world empire also contain a review of the several alternate energy sources that may point the way towards a more peaceful future for the human race.

World Religions: Humanity Contemplates the Cosmos presents a description and analyses of Animism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and the Abrahamic Religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Psychoanalysis by Mail records a correspondence between Professor Daniel Joseph Emonds and Dr. Victor Wolfenberg took place just before the fall of the Soviet Union at a time when the relations between the US and the USSR were improving. This was during the early dawn of glasnost and perestroika, but before the formerly subject nations, such as Poland and Czechoslovakia, had entirely won their independence from the Russian monolith. The exchange between Professor Emonds and Dr. Wolfenberg recorded here, took place in that distant era before satellite phones and instant messaging had changed our style of communication and thereby transformed our lives. What occurred in that distant day was, therefore, a rather formal exchange of letters between Professor Emonds and Dr. Victor Wolfenberg. This epistolary exchange may represent the first (and perhaps the only) psychoanalysis conducted by long distance mail.

When It's Time to Buy Gold was written for US citizens and others who are alarmed by the debt ceiling showdown going in in Washington, DC and who are worried that this might bring down the US dollar and their savings with it. Not long ago the Federal government spent massive amounts of US dollars on bank bailouts and an economic stimulus program. In addition, two expensive wars continue to drain the national treasury. With the current economic crisis it now appears to some of our Congress people that more spending will be required, while others are more concerned with the size of the Federal deficit. Recently, investor anxiety about this difference of opinion in Congress drove the price of gold over $1600 per ounce. The basic message of When It's Time to Buy Gold, is that this price could go even higher if the deficit problem is not solved, and the strength of the dollar continues to decline. When It's Time to Buy Gold combines an historical explanation of the relationship between gold and money with five practical chapters devoted to a detailed and careful explanation of gold markets actually work. They explain how the long term investor (gold coins), the medium term investor (gold mining stocks) and the speculative investor (commodity futures in gold) can operate in these markets. The author, Jon Amsden, holds the PhD from the London School of Economics and has followed financial markets both as investor and analyst for many years.

The New Gold Rush has been written for US citizens and others who are concerned by the possibility that rapidly increasing Federal spending ( now 41% of US GDP) might bring down the US dollar and their savings with it. The Federal government has been spending massive amounts of US dollars on bank bailouts, the economic stimulus program, and the high cost of two ongoing wars. In addition to increased deficit spending by the government in Washington, the United States currently has large negative trade balance with other countries. An idea of the size of the trade deficit is given by the fact that the United States is currently in debt to China for more than $2Trillon and owes almost the same amount of money to Japan. Should either country begin to sell off the Treasury Bonds they are holding the US dollar would collapse overnight. These threats to the US dollar, in the context of an industrial slowdown and the off shoring of basic industrial production, could eventually overburden the national budget and lead to an inflation that could be both massive and quick. Because rapid inflation would impose serious losses on dollar-denominated investments and savings, many Americans have been thinking about buying gold as an intelligent form of economic self-protection. The New Gold Rush combines a historical explanation of the relationship between gold and money with five practical chapters devoted to a detailed and careful explanation of gold markets actually work showing how the long term investor (gold coins), the medium term investor (gold mining stocks) and the speculative investor (commodity futures in gold) can operate in these markets. The author, Jon Amsden, holds the PhD from the London School of Economics and has followed financial markets both as investor and analyst for many years.

This is the history of the Spanish invasion of Mexico in 1519 when a woman was given to Cortes as a slave after his first battle with the local indigenous warriors. Malinalli of Tenepal, still in her teens, had been sold in to slavery by her mother after the chief of the city, her father, died. Malinalli should then have become chief with the passing of her father, but her mother wished to take up that role and got the local wandering merchants to take Malinalli away after which she was sold in the slave market in the Tabasco region near the lands of the Maya. She was then given to Cortes, was baptized as "Marina", and given as a "wife" to a young Spanish aristocrat, Humberto Puertocarrero. Humberto Puertocarrero promptly raped her, on the deck of Cortes' ship which was sailing north to meet representatives of Montezuma. Marina would arrange for Puertocarrero's removal from the Cortes team later on. Despite all this Marina learned Spanish very quickly, and became Cortes' translator thus effectively allowing the Spaniards to overthrow the cruel and bloody empire of Montezuma which, indeed, had been Marina's goal from the very beginning of the story.

This book is about the interaction between industrial technology and investment that produces economic depressions.