Recommended Reading

Curious Obsessions
in the History of Science and Spirituality
by Rachael Kohn.
ABC Books (2008)
Reviewed by Mairéid Sullivan

Curious Obsessions is a survey and analysis of current spiritual reformations. The principle characters in the history of science and religion are present and accounted for: The likes of Hildegard von Bingen, John Dee, Paracelsus, Giordano Bruno, Rudolf Steiner, Thomas More, Helena Blavatsky. >>>read more.

Ricardo's Law
by Fred Harrison
Published 2006

Ricardo's Law points lawmakers, policy analysts and social reformers towards a model of public finances that is fair and would deliver prosperity to everyone.

The hidden flaw in the market economy - and the reason why politicians cannot keep their grand promises - is revealed in Ricardo's Law.

"without a knowledge of [the law of rent], it is impossible to understand the effect of the progress of wealth on profits and wages, or to trace satisfactorily the influence of taxation on different classes of the communit" David Ricardo
>>>read more

The Secret Life of Real Estate: How it Moves and Why
by Phillip J. Anderson
Published 2009
Reviewed by Mairéid Sullivan

If you think economics is boring, you haven’t met the real pirates of the Caribbean yet. Phil Anderson’s recently published book The Secret Life of Real Estate is both exciting and timely. It provides detailed insight on how the addiction to land speculation became the foundation of the United States of America.

This is a comprehensive analysis of land speculation, banking and the 18-year real estate boom-bust cycles, which have developed in the USA over the last 200 years, and are steadily being exported around the globe.

‘This is an exciting, important and timely work; it will sell well. Anderson has ferreted out and marshaled dozens of sources on the 18-year cycle of boom and bust in real estate, its history, its mechanics, and its dynamics. Some sources are old and neglected; some are current and neglected; but after Anderson it will be hard for macro-economists to continue neglecting them. He melds the dramatic skills of a raconteur with the industry of a scholar and the discipline of a field marshal, to keep readers wide awake while they follow and most likely accept Anderson’s take on economic history.’
Mason Gaffney, Professor of Economics, University of California, author of The Corruption of Economics

Real estate is sold as a much safer investment than the constantly fluctuating stock market. Share price volatility is compared unfavourably with the steadier and impressive gains made from real estate which is, we are told, ‘as safe as houses’.

As millions of Americans – and countless others in the Western world - have recently found to their cost, house prices can also suddenly and dramatically drop. Yet no other text on real estate, either current or from the past, mentions this fact, reinforcing the perception that real estate is an almost risk-free investment.

Now for the first time, and long overdue, a book that details and explains the cyclical nature of real estate.

The latest real estate downturn in the USA (and in other countries) is just one of many that have occurred since 1800 with astonishing regularity. This book is the story of the American experience of those downturns: the move out of recession, how the banking system facilitates that move, the boom and the characters that shaped it, the bust and then the recession, or worse, depression. This is always followed by a new cycle repeating each phase again, varied only by the new ways bankers find to avoid the regulations put in place after each collapse to ensure it will never happen again.

The Secret Life of Real Estate explains, quite simply, how the real estate cycle originates, offers a fascinating study of US history to illustrate the stages through which each cycle passes, then explains why this cycle of boom and bust must repeat, given present economic conditions.

Real estate can only be a truly winning investment if you know the cycle. For investors, the author has designed a 24-hour Real Estate Clock which plots the progress of the cycle, with tell-tale signs so that investors can recognise exactly where they are in the cycle at any point in time and so help them decide whether to invest, sit tight or sell. He has refined this clock over a period of many years and those who have attended his courses have found it an invaluable and remarkably accurate guide for their investment strategies, not only in real estate.

With its invaluable insights and practical guidance, The Secret Life of Real Estate is a book for both novice and experienced investors alike who want to know why the real estate cycle moves as it does, learn how this movement can be forecast well in advance, and more importantly, wish to learn how to profit from this knowledge. A must read for any serious investor.