Although written in the early nineties, the return of the social security issues and the Republican economic collapse have rendered this book relevant again. It provides a good background and bare bones analysis of the history of the program, as well as the nature of the crises as it stood at the time. It also includes a fine assessment of the then currant reform/repair formulas. Not surprisingly, the return of the problem has lead to the return of many of the same proposals, including that old Republican fetish, privatization. The authors own solutions are interesting, and complicated enough that they are not to be dismissed out of hand, although her 'balance the budget' suggestion has clearly not solved the issue. However, it is certain that accepting all her proposals would help considerably, since calls on both business and individuals to pitch in. The second half of the book (written by the 2cd author) is a discussion of investment strategies (some are common sense) that are interesting and still useful, though less of an interest to me personally. All in all a worthwhile work.

This is a book that all americans should read. Especially the seniors who thought they knew what social security was all about. Social Security reform was one of the main reasons that I voted for Bush/Cheney. And after reading this book you will see why social security needs reform. It is the ultimate "Ponzi Scheme."

The world of trading, and technical analysis in particular, has advanced significantly since this book was written. Newer, more polished books are now available (e.g. Constance Brown's Technical Analysis for the Trading Professional). The book's illustrations and content are mediocre. After reading a little bit of technical analysis, it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you have found the 'Holy Grail', but active traders know that chart patterns can, and do, fail and besides, it sometimes takes days-to-weeks for a complete pattern to evolve - well beyond the time horizon of most short-term traders. My advice for the beginner would be to focus on the newer books (besides Brown, you may start with Jack Schwager's and John Murphy's books), read a lot, keep your mind open, and be aware of the technical pattern over multiple time-frames (daily, weekly, monthly).