The Little Book of the Shrinking Dollar: What You Can Do to Protect Your Money Now

Peter Cooper Gives One to Avoid . . . and Three to Buy

Peter Cooper ventures that the British pound has the most value to lose over the next two years—even more than the dollar. It’s a fat hen sitting on a secret pile of the highest debts of any major economy. For the moment, it’s congratulating itself for staying out of the Eurozone, but they can’t break out any bubbly yet.

He drew our attention to “Project Armageddon” done by brokers Tullett Prebon. They claim that the Brits have plenty more to worry about than their EU brothers; it’s just that their debts won’t come due until later.

The Brits owe a staggering £5 trillion ($8.3 trillion).

Included in this number are public pension liabilities, public-private partnerships, and £1.34 trillion in financial sector bailouts. Total public debt is 244 percent of GDP.

If you count external debt, the study points out, the UK has a higher debt-to-GDP than all the countries making headlines today. You know them: Greece, Portugal, and Spain.

UK skates by while the world is distracted, but it’s only a matter of time before the market starts pricing the Brits’ debt accordingly.

It doesn’t matter whether Europe gets its act together or crashes. Either way, says Peter, the pound is vulnerable.

In a situation like we’re in, where we’ll all be racing to devalue and get back on track, the biggest loser will be the country with the highest total debt to GDP. And that’s Britain.

UK worries are exactly the kind we face. They’re still in housing bubble ...