As the global economy struggles to avoid meltdown, so the greatest Ponzi scheme in history approaches its final death rattle. Politicians have stood by and watched the financial industry create a massive overhang of debt, a mountain of low quality assets – and ultimately, an economic disaster which has dwarfed all others.

The Eurozone crisis and the LIBOR manipulaton scandal are just two symptoms of a much broader problem: one of vastly excessive debt, regulatory failure, a culture of deceit on Wall Street and the City of London, and governments that have promised their citizens far more than they can deliver. In Planet Ponzi, Mitch Feierstein tells you what’s happened, what will happen next and how to protect yourself and your family.