Author Adam Wasserman Set to Release New Book on the History of Gold
Boca Raton, FL, July 08, 2010 --(PR.com)-- As gold's price skyrockets to new heights, its overwhelming popularity is displayed in the wide array of pamphlets, websites, commercials, brokers, and financial advisors all urging people to "buy gold now!" Behind the scenes, the politics of gold are also becoming prevalent. Gold is always good; gold is mankind's natural currency; man is naturally drawn to gold - all such notions and assertions have become even more widespread amidst a rush to gold not seen since the Great Depression.
Goldbugs are coming out of the woodworks predicting a worldwide transition to the gold standard and the end of fiat paper money. With the Euro crisis, the decline of the dollar, and a global depression, governments and monetary institutions are once again looking to fill their reserves with gold. Gold as a commodity is seemingly taking the role of the classical gold standard. If Europe even begins to waver on its commitment to "fiscal austerity" then a run on the Euro and a rush to gold follows.
The role of gold in today's economic crisis seems simple enough: investors rush to gold as a safety valve in case of a full-scale collapse. But the apparent teeter-totter of gold and economic recovery is not so simplistic. Is gold a safe-haven in a period of economic collapse or is it actually a factor? The stimulus measures necessary to revive an economy suffering recession also happen to weaken faith in a country's currency and increase demand for gold. Like the gold standard in the Great Depression, the rush to gold occurs alongside economic downward spiral and actually exacerbates crisis.
Drowned out by the goldbug voices calling for the resumption of the gold standard, advisors urging investment in gold, and all of the media hype over gold's record-breaking prices, the historical context of gold's role in economic crisis has been stripped from public discourse. This is why Florida author-historian Adam Wasserman's new book, Two Sides to the Coin: A History of Gold, is more pertinent than ever in understanding the impact and role of gold in the current economic downturn.
Two Sides to the Coin examines the role of gold in the rise and decline of various civilizations and empires in the past, as well as their economic prosperity and downturn, showing how gold has two sides as wealth and poverty, power and powerlessness, splendor and tarnish. Tracing the role of gold as coinage, store of wealth, religious symbol, and desired commodity from Ancient Egypt to the Great Depression, Two Sides to the Coin seeks to show how the obsessive pursuit of gold brought great prosperity for the time being but almost always led to an even greater downfall.
By looking at dissidents and various social contexts, Wasserman hopes to convince readers that gold's preeminence depends on the particular society and that mankind is not intrinsically attracted to gold. According to Wasserman, examining past human interactions and encounters with gold helps us place the present-day gold rush into perspective. More importantly, studying the impact on gold money on past economies is pertinent in a time when countries such as India, China, and Russia are stocking their gold reserves in anticipation of greater economic downturn. What will be the global economic effects of monetizing gold in a time of record-high demand? The past provides us answers.
Two Sides to the Coin: A History of Gold will be available for sale Thursday July 8th for $17.99 on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. Adam Wasserman is an author-historian from South Florida who specializes in critical historical perspective. His past works include A People's History of Florida 1513-1876: How Africans, Seminoles, Women, and Lower Class Whites Shaped the Sunshine State. Wasserman can be contacted at his author website or emailed at awasser55@yahoo.com.
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Goldbugs are coming out of the woodworks predicting a worldwide transition to the gold standard and the end of fiat paper money. With the Euro crisis, the decline of the dollar, and a global depression, governments and monetary institutions are once again looking to fill their reserves with gold. Gold as a commodity is seemingly taking the role of the classical gold standard. If Europe even begins to waver on its commitment to "fiscal austerity" then a run on the Euro and a rush to gold follows.
The role of gold in today's economic crisis seems simple enough: investors rush to gold as a safety valve in case of a full-scale collapse. But the apparent teeter-totter of gold and economic recovery is not so simplistic. Is gold a safe-haven in a period of economic collapse or is it actually a factor? The stimulus measures necessary to revive an economy suffering recession also happen to weaken faith in a country's currency and increase demand for gold. Like the gold standard in the Great Depression, the rush to gold occurs alongside economic downward spiral and actually exacerbates crisis.
Drowned out by the goldbug voices calling for the resumption of the gold standard, advisors urging investment in gold, and all of the media hype over gold's record-breaking prices, the historical context of gold's role in economic crisis has been stripped from public discourse. This is why Florida author-historian Adam Wasserman's new book, Two Sides to the Coin: A History of Gold, is more pertinent than ever in understanding the impact and role of gold in the current economic downturn.
Two Sides to the Coin examines the role of gold in the rise and decline of various civilizations and empires in the past, as well as their economic prosperity and downturn, showing how gold has two sides as wealth and poverty, power and powerlessness, splendor and tarnish. Tracing the role of gold as coinage, store of wealth, religious symbol, and desired commodity from Ancient Egypt to the Great Depression, Two Sides to the Coin seeks to show how the obsessive pursuit of gold brought great prosperity for the time being but almost always led to an even greater downfall.
By looking at dissidents and various social contexts, Wasserman hopes to convince readers that gold's preeminence depends on the particular society and that mankind is not intrinsically attracted to gold. According to Wasserman, examining past human interactions and encounters with gold helps us place the present-day gold rush into perspective. More importantly, studying the impact on gold money on past economies is pertinent in a time when countries such as India, China, and Russia are stocking their gold reserves in anticipation of greater economic downturn. What will be the global economic effects of monetizing gold in a time of record-high demand? The past provides us answers.
Two Sides to the Coin: A History of Gold will be available for sale Thursday July 8th for $17.99 on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. Adam Wasserman is an author-historian from South Florida who specializes in critical historical perspective. His past works include A People's History of Florida 1513-1876: How Africans, Seminoles, Women, and Lower Class Whites Shaped the Sunshine State. Wasserman can be contacted at his author website or emailed at awasser55@yahoo.com.
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Adam Wasserman
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941-587-7377
adamwasserman.org
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