Member Reviews
Whenever someone tries to explain economic theory to me I stare at them like a dog that's being shown a card trick. Optimal Money Flow sees the flow of money to the top of the pyramid (ie. away from poor people and into the hands of the banks and big business) as a natural part of money. I'd say it was built that way by design by the rich mucky mucks who stand to make the most from it. Optimal Money Flow also proposes that the role of government is to, wait for it, ensure that some of the money flows back down to the sewer in which all the poor people live. Ok, I'm paparaphrasing. But government doesnt't exactly have such a great track record of giving the poor its due instead of lining its own pockets. That's like Robin Hood taking from the rich to give back to the poor but asking the Sheriff of Nottingham to oversee the handover. I'm also arguing by analogy, which rarely holds up to close scrutiny, but you get the idea. An interesting idea but divorced from reality.
This book gives a great and often overlooked perspective on government's role in the economy and to remember that spending/borrowing gets into the economy and then looking at what happens to it; as well as good perspective on debts and deficits and how to view them in the context of what happens to that money and how it changes hands in subsequent transactions, not just the first ones.
He has some great solutions like a government-controlled "My America" account that any taxpayer would have in order to have more direct loosening/tightening of the economy by depositing, changing rates, etc. to encourage saving or spending based on the goals and conditions. This and some other things are great but are hammered home a bit too much, but memorable.
This also helps further expose the fallacies of pandering to the rich and other failed economic policies that unfortunately keep coming up.
Overall, a very informative title, though a bit odd to hear about American economics from a narrator that sounds British -- like C-3PO!
I prefer financial and business books that have more mass market appeal. The audience for this book should be someone who is very educated, up to date in politics, and versed in economic theories.
The ideas the author has are good ones, although I think we likely won’t see them come to fruition during our lifetime. Money flow is a great idea in theory, but I’m going to continue saving my pennies on my own.