Kerby Anderson

Larry Lepard has seen this before. In fact, three generations of his family over a 100-year period have been adversely affected by the Federal Reserve and federal agencies.

In the 1920s, his grandfather nearly lost his furniture business when the 1929 crash came. He and his wife spent years pleading with their bank not to foreclose. Decades later, his father came dangerously close to bankruptcy when the Fed Chairman raised the Fed Funds rate to 20 percent. Then came his turn when he was managing an investment partnership and identified the housing bubble. He was having one of his best years, when the SEC changed the rules, and he suffered substantial losses.

His new book, The Big Print, provides an overview of economic history and examines the issues stemming from loose monetary policies and federal intervention. He takes you on a guided tour of the history of money, classical economics, Keynesian economics, and the origin of the Federal Reserve.

Then he focuses on the solution. One problem is the false belief that inflation is necessary, and deflation should be avoided. Yet if the economy is working properly, you would expect products to become more efficient and less expensive.

A bigger problem is the fact that we have broken money. His answer is simple: fix the money, fix the world. If governments can print more money, the value of your money decreases. By contrast, bitcoin has a fixed supply of 21 million. It fixes the money and is decentralized, meaning a few elites cannot rig the system in their favor.

Our economic system is in trouble, yet government’s usual solution is to print more money and kick the can down the road. His book is a warning that we are headed for “The Big Print.” A wise person will be prepared.