DAVID M. SMICK

The World is Curved is an essential read for those who wish to understand the workings, politics and distresses of the global financial system. David Smick has done an outstanding job in drawing on his interactions with many of the key players in international finance, to produce an insightful and entertaining book. -- Alan Greenspan David Smick keeps a low profile, but experts consider him one of the most insightful financial market strategists in the world. For more than two decades, he has conferred with central bankers (such as Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke) and advised top Wall Street executives and investors, from George Soros to Michael Steinhardt to Stan Druckenmiller. Political leaders (from Bill Bradley to Jack Kemp) have regularly sought his policy advice. The World Is Curved picks up where Thomas Friedmans The World Is Flat left off, taking readers on an insiders tour through the private offices of central bankers, finance ministers, even prime ministers. Smick reveals how todays risky environment came to beand why the mortgage mess is a symptom of potentially far more devastating trouble. He wrestles with the two questions on everyones mind: How bad could things really get in todays volatile economy? And what can we do about it? Drawing on riveting anecdotes in language anyone can understand, Smick explains: Why the churning cauldron we call China (the next great bubble to burst) represents a powerful threat to everyones pocketbook How Japanese housewives have taken control of their nations savings, and why it matters to us How greed-driven bankers and investment bankers have put everyones pensions and 401(k)s at risk Why todays incredible shrinking central banks may not be able to save us when the next crisis hits Why the big-money Russian, Chinese, Saudi, and Dubai sovereign wealth funds represent a tectonic shift in global financial power, away from the United States, Europe, and Japan Why the world desperately needs a big think financial doctrine to guide todays dangerous ocean of money &a