The Mr. X Interviews Volume 2: World Views from a Fictional US Sovereign Creditor

“The US is in a hell of a mess in every direction.”— Paul Volcker, Former Federal Chairman, October 2018The United States is in a financial crisis, and in The Mr. X Interviews, Volume 2, Luke Gromen analyzes why. This follow-up to Gromen’s first book reintroduces the mysterious Mr. X, a fictional sovereign creditor who has befriended Luke, and through a series of insightful conversations, shares with him his concerns about the United States’ financial situation.At the heart of this volume’s discussion is the state of the US dollar-centric system. Covering the period from October 2017–January 2019, Mr. X analyzes how China and other countries seek to escape the post-Bretton Woods dollar-centric system in various ways and what that could mean for the US and global economies. In these pages, you’ll get a better understanding of why:•China is seeking to price oil in their own currency, the Chinese yuan (CNY)•Foreign Central Banks have stopped supporting rapidly-growing US Federal deficits•The US may have to weaponize the USD to maintain the status quo currency system•The first round of the US/China trade war was already over in 2018, and why the US lost•China no longer had the luxury of “playing the long game” as of 3q18•US weaponization of the USD to maintain the status quo currency system failed in 4q18Backed by numerous statistics, financial articles, and illustrative charts, The Mr. X Interviews, Volume 2 will open your eyes to a financial side of the world you’ve never seen.Luke Gromen has twenty-five years of experience in equity research, equity research sales, and as a macro/thematic analyst. He is the founder and president of the macro/thematic research firm FFTT, LLC, which helps investors connect the dots between Wall Street, corporate America, and international economies to identify investable developing economic bottlenecks for his clients.