vi THE BiG DROP
In fact, the international monetary system has collapsed
three times in the past 101 years.
First in 1914, after the First World War. Then in 1939, after
the tripartite monetary agreement unravelled. And again in
1971, when Richard Nixon ended the convertibility of US dol-
lars into gold.
The monetary system seems to collapse ‘about every 30 or
40 years and it’s been about 40 years since the last one,’ Jim
writes.
‘That doesn’t mean the system is going to collapse tomorrow
morning like clockwork. It does suggest, however, that the useful
life of the international monetary system, if you will, is about 30
or 40 years. We’re at the end of that period, so we shouldn’t be
surprised if it collapses again.’
The Big Drop: How to Grow Your Wealth During the Coming
Collapse shows you how to protect and build your wealth
ahead of and during the coming monetary collapse.
Perhaps even more interestingly, this book may play a part
— however small — in helping to sidestep disaster altogether.
I’m sure you’ve heard of self-fulfilling prophecies.
Say you’re hired as a truck driver from Sydney to
Melbourne — but you believe you are going to be the worst
courier of all time. As a result, you’re distracted and take the
Pacific Highway north to Brisbane.
By thinking you’d be the worst truck driver, you became it.
Your prophecy became true because of itself.
But have you heard about the opposite phenomenon? The
self-negating prophecy?
Jim tipped us off to the concept. He, in turn, learned it
from its originator, Robert K. Merton, a respected sociology
professor at Columbia University who passed away in 2003.
‘A self-negating prophecy is when you make a prediction,’ Jim
told us. ‘You can help it not come true. By alerting people to the
risk, they can behave in ways that make it not come true, which