When the United States stopped backing dollars with gold in 1968, the nature of money changed, becoming the fiat currency system that has now put the world into an unprecedented recession.

Jason Hartman is joined by returning guest, Richard Duncan, to talk about how we are in danger of a global Great Depression and how we can stop it. Richard’s previous book talked about the inevitable collapse of the dollar, and his new book discusses “a new theoretical construct, The Quantity Theory of Credit, that is the key to understanding not only the developments that led to the crisis, but also to understanding how events will play out in the years ahead.”  

Richard explains how the expansion of credit eventually implodes and the dangers of the contraction of credit. Richard Duncan is the author of three books on the global economic crisis. The Dollar Crisis: Causes, Consequences, Cures (John Wiley & Sons, 2003, updated 2005), predicted the current global economic disaster with extraordinary accuracy. It was an international bestseller.

His second book was The Corruption of Capitalism: A strategy to rebalance the global economy and restore sustainable growth. It was published by CLSA Books in December 2009. His latest book is The New Depression: The Breakdown of the Paper Money Economy (John Wiley & Sons, 2012). Since beginning his career as an equities analyst in Hong Kong in 1986, Richard has served as global head of investment strategy at ABN AMRO Asset Management in London, worked as a financial sector specialist for the World Bank in Washington D.C., and headed equity research departments for James Capel Securities and Salomon Brothers in Bangkok. He also worked as a consultant for the IMF in Thailand during the Asia Crisis. He is now chief economist at Blackhorse Asset Management in Singapore.

Jason Hartman talks with a listener about local vs. long distance real estate investing and how geography is less meaningful than ever before in history.  Then today’s guest is loan manager, stock trader and financial columnist, Logan Mohtashami with a no-spin discussion on the fiscal cliff and other current events.

Logan Mohtashami is a senior loan officer at his family owned mortgage company AMC Lending Group, which has been providing mortgage services for California residents since 1988. Logan is also a financial columnist for Benzinga.com and contributor for BusinessInsider.com and writes on financial matter relating to the housing market and basic economics.

Jason Hartman is joined by returning guest and best-selling author of The Creature from Jekyll Island, G. Edward Griffin, for a discussion of the hot topic of the United States’ “fiscal cliff.”  

As Mr. Griffin shares, the fiscal cliff is nothing new.  It has been there for roughly 50 years and applying a name to it now is a scare tactic by the government.  Mr. Griffin talks about fractional reserve banking and how it has led to the economic mess our country and world are in today.  It is no longer a fractional reserve; it is at zero reserve and Mr. Griffin feels the economy is going to collapse from all of the borrowing to pay old debt.  This will lead to a fully regimented society, which Mr. Griffin describes as drifting toward totalitarian, a scary concept.  

He goes on to discuss short and long term ways to protect ourselves, preserving any wealth one might have, and being prepared as much as possible for anything that may come to pass.  He feels the Fed will continue to inflate, raise taxes for a while, and then probably cut taxes again at some point.  It will be more of the same, more and more governmental control over our lives, more and more money created out of nothing, and less and less freedom.  

G. Edward Griffin is a writer and documentary film producer with many successful titles to his credit. Listed in Who’s Who in America, he is well known because of his talent for researching difficult topics and presenting them in clear terms that all can understand. He has dealt with such diverse subjects as archaeology and ancient Earth history, the Federal Reserve System and international banking, terrorism, internal subversion, the history of taxation, U.S. foreign policy, the science and politics of cancer therapy, the Supreme Court, and the United Nations.

His better-known works include The Creature from Jekyll Island, World without Cancer, The Discovery of Noah’s Ark, Moles in High Places, The Open Gates of Troy, No Place to Hide, The Capitalist Conspiracy, More Deadly than War, The Grand Design, The Great Prison Break, and The Fearful Master.

Mr. Griffin is a graduate of the University of Michigan where he majored in speech and communications. In preparation for writing his book on the Federal Reserve System, he enrolled in the College for Financial Planning located in Denver, Colorado. His goal was not to become a professional financial planner but to better understand the real world of investments and money markets. He obtained his CFP designation (Certified Financial Planner) in 1989.

The study of aging has always been fascinating, and in today’s society, we have found ways to look and feel younger.  Is it possible that science has evolved to the point that in the very near future we will all live longer, healthier lives?  Jason Hartman’s guest, Sonia Arrison, says yes.  

Advances in gene therapy, stem cell research and personalized medicine means that the human lifespan is ever increasing. Sonia wants to make people aware that we need to push for longevity.  Sonia Arrison is the author of 100+, How the Coming Age of Longevity Will Change Everything from Careers and Relationships to Family and Health. She addresses diseases that increase aging, making the distinction between lifespan and healthspan and explains different studies, including observing how various conditions affect human genomes.  She also talks about the engineering of new body parts from stem cells, spray-on skin used by the military, and more.  

Sonia and Jason discuss the effects of healthy longevity on relationships, such as having a bigger generational impact on families, and the economic impact. Sonia Arrison is a bestselling author and technology analyst who has studied the impact of new technologies on society for more than a decade. Her book is a national bestseller and has been featured in top media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, MSNBC, Bloomberg News, Fox News, CBS, and the Today Show.  

As a founder, academic advisor, and trustee at Singularity University, she is focused on exponentially growing technologies and their impact on society.  She is a columnist for TechNewsWorld and was formerly director of the Technology Studies department at the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) in San Francisco. 

Coming to us from London, Max Keiser joins Jason Hartman for a fast-paced interview about what is going on in our world with GDP, the debt ceiling and debt loads, gold and silver markets, and currency collapse.

Max is the host of “The Oracle with Max Keiser” for BBC World News and the author of the Keiser Report.  Jason and Max discuss how long the world governments can put off the inevitable collapse of the fiat money produced by the central banks. Max talks about the various currencies around the world and which countries are set to implode.  

Other topics that Max covers are countries that are losing their sovereignty, basically being held hostage and managed by entities outside of their own country, such as the IMF and Central Banks, how bonds play a role in this issue, and the edging toward a global tax. Max talks about the many ways that the world is being led into a globalized currency, which is not a theory, but happening in real time.

In addition to hosting the show and authoring the Kesier Report, Max is a blogger for the Huffington Post, and he has also presented features for the “People and Power” new magazine series on Aljazeera English. Max Keiser is the creator, co-founder and former CEO of HSX Holdings/Hollywood Stock Exchange, later sold to Cantor Fitzgerald.

He is also the co-founder of HSX films that went on to make almost a dozen films, including "Mixed Signals," "Six-String Samurai," "Dancer, Texas Pop. 81," and "girl." The company was then sold to Ignite Entertainment/Lionsgate. Max designed, scoped, and built the Hollywood Stock Exchange with Michael Burns. Max was awarded a US patent (number 5950176) for the 'Virtual Specialist Technology" on which the Hollywood Stock Exchange operates. He created virtual securities; MovieStocks, and StarBonds and created the first fully convertible virtual currency, the Hollywood Dollar. The Hollywood Stock Exchange remains the highest volume stock exchange in the world.

On this episode, Jason Hartman interviews Dave Krieger, author of Clouded Titles, and an investigative journalist, for a fascinating look at the MERS mess, the foreclosure crisis, and get Dave’s outlook on things. Dave says there are an anticipated 4 million homes yet to go into foreclosure.

Dave explains some of the problems happening across the country with titles, defining “quiet title,” that he says homeowners tend to look at as a silver bullet to clear a title. He cautions these homeowners to seek legal counsel before considering this option. Dave also talks about the issues surrounding MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems) that have left many homeowners in trouble, and caused problems for title companies and investors. The biggest problems with this come when investors are trying to buy properties at foreclosure auction. Buried in the mortgage paperwork are statements that allow MERS to foreclose, leaving title companies to scramble to stop the action and coming up against clouded titles missing legal descriptions and other information, causing serious problems for investors.

Dave Krieger is a former major market radio news reporter and news director and television news reporter/anchorman and investigative journalist, who won national and state news awards from Associated Press Broadcasters. Dave was a former member of Radio and Television News Directors Association.

Dave began studying law in early 1990; specializing in real estate, tort, consumer credit and collection issues. His first self-published work, The Credit Restoration Primer, a 263-page, self-help, credit repair book, was first released in 1995 and is now entering its 4th Edition. Dave currently serves as a paralegal and legal research analyst for Wade Kricken, an attorney in Dallas, Texas, who specializes in consumer and real estate law and foreclosure defense.

Jason Hartman is joined by Larry Muck, the Executive Director of the American Association of Private Lenders, to talk about the AAPL’s history, mission and vision.  Larry explains what private lenders are doing for people that the banks can’t do, and how the AAPL is trying to organize the efforts of private lending.  

AAPL was formed to help raise the standards in the industry and develop a brand that could be used by private lenders to prove credibility and trust.  Larry also discusses the needs of investors and the various tools now available to support investors and lenders.

Larry shares his passion for fair dealing and excellence in lending as the Executive Director of the American Association of Private Lenders. He brings to this position the experiences gained through a 30 year career in banking.  

During that span, he served in many leadership and lending capacities, including serving as Executive Vice President for a regional bank with a $220 million portfolio of commercial, consumer, construction, and mortgage loans.  Additionally he served as Community President for Gold Bank in Saint Joseph, Missouri and transitioned to Regional EVP with Marshall and Ilsely Bank in Kansas City. His well rounded background includes experience in Loan Review and serving for two years as the Corporate Training Director for a $15B regional bank holding company.

Throughout his career, Larry has had a passion for community service, serving in various leadership capacities with organizations such as United Way, the Allied Arts Council, St. Joseph Preservation, Inc. and many others.  His interests lie in all outdoor sporting activities, basketball, and cooking.

His passion for music and serving Christ led him to serve as guitarist and backup vocalist for his church’s worship band for five years.  He received his secondary education through the University of Kansas, home of the fabulous KU Jayhawks Basketball team, and completed both his undergraduate and master degrees in Business Administration there.

Tracking foreclosure stats and trends can be deceiving due to shadow inventory. Jason Hartman’s guest, Sean O’Toole, founder of Foreclosure Radar, explains the foreclosure rate, the “foreclosure hangover,” the slow increase in home prices, and much more.

Sean and Jason also talk about the price differences and inventory in the California markets, and the fallacy of a “Foreclosure Wave” in the nation, regardless of who is nominated in the Presidential election. Sean defines the judicial and non-judicial markets and all of the distractions that have slowed down our recovery. He defends the MERS system, despite its flaws, because our current system is completely broken.

Prior to launching ForeclosureRadar, Sean successfully purchased and flipped more than 150 residential and commercial foreclosures. Leveraging 15 years in the software industry, Sean used technology as a key competitive advantage to build his successful real estate investment track record. Sean has always thrived in startup environments, and as such, became a key contributor at Xing Technology (acquired by Real Networks), ISI/GlobalCenter (acquired by Global Crossing), and Icarian, Inc.(acquired by Workstream, Inc.).

With his extensive experience in computers, software development, and business processes, Sean moved easily into VP and Director level positions in engineering, product management, sales, marketing and operations. Sean also served as President of the OpenMPEG Consortium, which brought together 32 companies to define industry standards for video on personal computers.

Jason Hartman and Karl Deninger, author of Leverage and his blog, “The Market Ticker,” get together to discuss the economic structural imbalances around the world. Karl started “The Market Ticker” to warn investors about impending ruptures in the stock market after he figured out the illegal methods happening in the tech boom and crash that left many of his friends bankrupt.

He stresses the importance of knowing how we got where we are today and offers solutions to actually put the system back together on a sustainable basis. In his book, Leverage, Larry explains the problem in that all geometric systems are unsustainable for the long term, such as Medicare/Medicaid, trade deficits, deflation from productivity, deflation of fiat money, and much more.

Mr. Denninger is the former CEO of MCSNet, a regional Chicago area networking and Internet company that operated from 1987 to 1998. MCSNet was proud to offer several "firsts" in the Internet Service space, including integral customer-specified spam filtering for all customers and the first virtual web server available to the general public.

Mr. Denninger's other accomplishments include the design and construction of regional and national IP-based networks and development of electronic conferencing software reaching back to the 1980s.He has been a full-time trader since 1998, author of The Market Ticker (http://market-ticker.org), a daily market commentary, and operator of TickerForum, an online trading community, both since 2007.

Private equity is a type of investing where you deploy capital in companies privately rather than in the public market. Here to talk about this subject with Jason Hartman is David Carey, author of King of Capital, and senior writer for “The Deal.” David explains the various forms, including injecting money into companies to help them grow faster, and the most common form, a leverage buyout (LBO).

In an LBO, private equity firms are not responsible for paying down the debt, unlike a homeowner who pays off a mortgage. Instead, the company that is being acquired takes on the debt and retires it over time using its own cash flow. David notes that most private equity firms outperform stocks and bonds by a wide margin, not just through the use of leverage, but also from improving the profitability of the companies they acquire. David goes on to share his thoughts on the attacks on private equity, Bing Capital and Mitt Romney.

Dispelling the political negative caricature of the private equity business, David shares how these firms have helped numerous companies prosper, allowing for quicker new job growth. Bing Capital was an exception, having piled on too much debt, and naturally, the Obama campaign took a potshot at the firm and private equity firms in general.

DAVID CAREY is senior writer for The Deal, a news service and magazine covering private-equity and mergers and acquisitions. Before joining The Deal, he was the editor of Corporate Finance magazine and wrote for Adweek, Fortune, Institutional Investor, and Financial World. Carey has appeared often on CNBC. He holds two masters degrees: one in French literature from Princeton and a second in journalism from Columbia. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Washington.