In his latest interview with The Gold Report, Shadowstats founder and leading contrarian economist John Williams says hard assets, namely gold, will be insurance against the coming economic Armageddon. Williams and Gold Report’s Karen Roche discuss a host of topics from government statistics to the coming economic meltdown.
On Government Statistics
The way I describe the economy is that it started turning down in 2007, plunged throughout 2008 into 2009. Basically, it has been bottom bouncing ever since. I’d caution anyone that we’re seeing extraordinary distortions in economic reporting, due primarily to the system never having been designed to handle a downturn of this severity. Post-WWII economic reporting is based on the presumption of ongoing economic growth and is seasonally adjusted. In tracking payroll employment for example, the assumption is that if a reporting company doesn’t report, it is still in business, so the government will impute what they think would have been reported. They theorize that any jobs lost through companies going out of business generally are more than offset by jobs being created by the companies that haven’t reported.
We’ve repeatedly warned that the government statistics are manipulated, sometimes on purposes, sometimes because the people compiling the numbers suffer from normalcy bias. Whatever the case, the economic picture is not as rosy as we’ve been told, and unemployment statistics are a clear sign of this. The official government unemployment rate, the one cited by the news media and optimism opium smoking sheeple, is 9.8%. The real number of unemployed, including all those who are counted as officially no longer looking for work and those who have fallen off unemployment benefits (i.e. the 99ers), is closer to 22% according to John Williams.
The Economy in 2011 and Beyond
Eventually, the continued economic decline will be recognized officially, but people will be talking about the second leg of a double-dip before it gets any official recognition. I don’t see any economic growth ahead. In fact, I see a pretty bad further contraction. For instance, as bad as it’s been, if you look at housing starts, the housing market never really had any bounce-up from the stimulus (except maybe a little bit in the home sales numbers tied the expiration of tax credits), and it’s actually started to turn meaningfully to the downside again. That’s bad for the banking system. It’s not good news for anyone.
The problem is we have a solvency crisis and an economic crisis that are ongoing simultaneously.
The ‘double dip’ oft discussed by economic talking heads is nothing but propaganda. A double dip suggests that we may have another mild recession, but it won’t be anything severe. It’s just a dip – not a collapse.
In reality, it is going to be much more than just a ‘dip.’
The Catch 22
There is no happy exit. The correct approach would have been to avoid the circumstance in the first place, but it’s the nature of the political system always to take a gain in the immediate future regardless of the expense over the long term. There have been many years of conventional wisdom that the deficit and the U.S. dollar don’t matter. They both do. There comes an eventual day of reckoning and that’s what we’re facing.
I think they’ll continue to do what they’re doing, and I can’t blame them. They have a series of devil’s choices. We’ve gone too far to bring things into balance.
…
The current circumstance could have been avoided decades ago with prudent management of the government’s finances. Now, given the choice between immediate systemic collapse and printing more dollars, I likely would do what the government is doing, because printing money at least buys a little more time.
In a recent letter to Congress, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner confirmed Mr. Williams’ views and suggested that we are literally on the brink of collapse. We either stop printing voluntarily now (which is simply not going to happen) or our creditors will stop buying our debt. It’s that simple.
The end result in both instances is a collapse of our economic system.
What Collapse Might Look Like
My views haven’t changed since we last talked. The ultimate result here is the government printing money to meet its obligations. The Fed effectively is funding the government’s borrowing. But as the economy continues to weaken, as the deficit worsens, as the Treasury funding needs increase, quantitative easing and monetization of U.S. Treasuries will have to increase. We’re going to see more and more foreign holders of dollars sell their dollars. I think there’s high risk in the next year of a panicked sell-off, a panicked dumping of USD-denominated paper assets. All of that will cause the Fed to continue to flood the system with liquidity, to buy up unwanted Treasury debt and stimulate inflation. As people increasingly don’t want to hold the currency because of the inflation, we’ll start to see higher inflation that quickly can evolve into hyperinflation.
…
I can’t tell you for sure that’s going to happen, but if I’m right about what’s happening with the economy and how the Fed will respond—with more, not less, quantitative easing—the general response in the world markets will be to dump dollars, and there is high risk of that in the year ahead.
We may have already triggered hyperinflation. Food costs are rising at an alarming rate. In a previous interview, John Williams suggested that we had perhaps a couple of months before the first signs of hyperinflation kicked in. That interview was in December of 2010. It is now more likely than anytime since the crisis started, based on rising prices for essential goods like food and energy, that inflation is the probable end result.
How To Protect Yourself
As an economist looking at the broad trends—I’m not an investment advisor—people in a USD-denominated environment will need to try to preserve their wealth and assets and protect the purchasing power of the dollars they have. That means holding some physical gold, physical silver, getting some assets outside the U.S. dollar. I still like the Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and Swiss franc, and I think they will come out of this relatively unscathed versus the USD. Over the long haul, gold really is the preeminent asset, with a history of holding its purchasing power over time.
As we’ve discussed prior, hard assets will be the only protection for preservation of wealth during a hyperinflationary collapse.
Gold and silver are just a part, in our view, of any complete SHTF plan.
John Williams has suggested previously that there is a significant threat of disruptions to our food supply and the normal flow of commerce in the event of a collapse.
In the onset of such a collapse, even gold and silver may be difficult to trade for essential survival goods like food and gas. That’s why if your concerned with life during and after hyperinflation you should ask yourself what is money when the system collapses and how do i prep, invest and preserve wealth during hard times?
Value will be redefined in such an event. Don’t be sitting on Federal Reserve brand toilet paper – have some hard assets.
We are doing good to buy extra food and supplies right now, we cannot afford gold. I guess our investments will be in toilet paper and rice and beans. At least we won’t starve.
Too obvious now, especially with the BS SOTU and recent unemployment and housing statistics. I would strongly suggest starting to hoard a 6 month supply of canned meats, fruits, and veggies. Note you can freeze bread. If nothing happens for a while just keep rotating your stock by date.   Have at least 2 big 5 gallon jugs of water per household member. I always have, in addition, at least 5 cases of beer and 5 jugs of wine (keep in cool and dark place).
What kind of beer & wine?
It’s all happening fast now. Yemen is now the latest nation looking to overturn their government, and the protests have begun. Like a wildfire, it will engulf the Middle East, then Europe, then… probably us in the US.
But I hope everyone takes a moment to watch this fascinating news story below, that I’ve linked. For all fellow preppers, that are taking pictures of their preps and posting online, or events around town or within your own homes (or dare I say, during any military incursions), please be careful. All of the newest smartphones and many digital cameras have a GPS stamp in them, with exact coordinates to where the photo was taken, within 15 ft! I had no idea, myself. So you’re not nearly as anonymous as you may think.
When the SHTF, no sense in needlessly giving away your position, the location of your PMs, or your ‘secret’, anti-state rants. They will know exactly where you (or your stash) are/is. Again, be careful, keep prepping, and watch this!
Don’t forget the cupcakes Andy. Ink, ink, ink.Â
Can’t we get both: delayed immediate systemic collapse & printing more dollars? It’s their dollar & our problem? You got insurance right?
Mac,
Allow me to argue a bit on both options.
The global leaders have thought all that and concluded to: Austerity measures because of the “crisis”, gathering of money and gold in a few hands, and creation of billions of poor ants-workers.
After we will be artifiacially unemployed, we will be given the option to work for some China-like model enterprise, or die.
Signs all over Europe lead to this. There was no need for people to lose their jobs, no need for taxes to increase, gasoline to climb to 1,75 euros per liter, millions of illegals to move around, crops remain unsold.
This planet has the means to feed us all. Greed is the keyword though, and elitists are working this model for many years.
Just a personal thought.
Manos
http://www.gnosticliberationfront.com/you_are_all_slaves.htm#you%20are%20all%20slaves
It will take only one ship to shut down the ditch and then watch the neighbors over there…. Two weeks of weapons training and the Red Sea will be red.
IMHO…..something big is coming our way, Â maybe even within 6 to 8 weeks.
Harvey Organ’s site is saying that the gold/silver futures market (comex) could collapse as soon as March. Â Â Way too many contract holders are standing for delivery, Â even after this recent, on going attack, Â on gold/silver’s price.
When paper gold/silver price  disconnects with the physical gold/silver price,  then it’s Katy bar the door time!  The entire global financial system is toast!  I don’t believe any currency will be safe.
This is definitely the kind of stuff , you will be telling your grandchildren about, someday,  if you survive.
Got gold? ( I’m talking physical…in your hand)
I dont know…our money thing wasnt always fake..it was backed by tangable gold.
now that its backed by pretty much nothing but a lick and a  promise from the Fed..I think they would like to make this OUR problem..but im thinking they have a lesson coming.
Yes we will have to make alot of adjustments, and some of them are going to suck , bigtime…but  i think one of we the peoples moves is going to be first…and that is to erradicte the fed from existence from our country, and our their way of government..
(at least that is what needs to happen..its a question of ..will it happen?)
We havent caused this..remember its them that have made the rules for us to play by..Im hoping their game is over..new set of rules..
Because of some of the “undesirables” we have in this country..there will be chaos,,and death because of this , no doubt…but i think eventually when the law abiding or civilized individuals realise they need to strong hold their positions, things will slowly turn into something way better..but it has to start with ending the Fed..and the corruption..all the way up the ladder and do a complete do over, as far as it comes to our so called “Government”
when the host is weak is when you need to chop its head off.
be prepaierd for being a part of that…no matter what your capacity is in it.
gold, silver and lead ingots are crashing just like i predicted 5 years ago. these metals are manipulated garbage. there is no salvation in gold or silver - only financial agony like the sound of a thousand toilets flushing in unison. the real financial geniuses from harvard and princeton who now work out of the white house basement are going to crash gold and silver even more and then cry all the way to the bank - so hurry up and buy more gold so they can continue to sell naked shorts and make $5 for every $1 you spend.
some of you on this blog who have been pushing gold as some kind of prepper ideal should tell us how it feels when your darling gold declines $32 an ounce as it did today. what a horrible investment. i’ll bet it goes down another $32 tomorrow. come on buffoons. tell us some more glorious lies, tell us some more chest thumping tall tales about freeze dried maggots or the superiority of the 30/06 over the 5.56 or how you love the smell of napalm in the morning and then drop onto your knees (tears in both eyes please) in a brief moment of devine truth and confess how it feels to be a financial fool. god in his infinite wisdom will forgive you if you contribute generously next saturday (or sunday) depending how much forgiveness you need.
want to be safe? save genuine new crisp uncirculated federal reserve ten dollar bills in #10 cans and bury them in your yard at night - this is all you will need regardless of what happens.
I truly hope PM’s go down in dollars…. I have enough tango pappa with the $ symbol. I’m interested to see what the Yen is going to buy tomorrow. Maybe tonight lostinmissouri, when Egypt wakes up in the morning & takes over the Suez Canal tomorrow. One spark is all it takes. I’ve been to Alexandria & Cairo. Don’t eat the Kentucky Fried Chicken, I didn’t. Charlie don’t surf. Yee haw!!!!!! Ride the wave……. Get well Charlie Sheen.
If you can afford it, it is better to live in third wold countries in Asia and South America than here in US. Â The land is cheap over there and you pay very little taxes on your property, less than $100 per year compare to thousands of dollars here.
No matter how much gold and silver you accumulate, it will run out sooner or later but if you have a land in a third world tropical country, all year round and for the rest of your life, it will produce enough food to sustain you and your family.
Once you are living over there and you miss Amerika,well, you can always visit US every year if you want to and see how the slaves are doing.
Why The Correction?
January 27, 2011
Don Stott
I was going to write about the absurd State of the Union Speech, or Obamacare, but the current correction seems to be more important. Not to me, but to newbys.
The current correction in gold and silver, is the most severe in the last year. 7%. Believe me, a 7% correction in anything, is nothing to worry about. It is absolutely NORMAL. How low will it go? What are the facts? First of all, I consider it an excellent buying opportunity. Secondly, gold and silver stand alone as far as value, with no government rules, regulations, or bureaucrats involved. There is no problem with it ever going to where all paper monies have gone, and will eventually go, and that is zero. Gold and silver require heavy investments in capital, labor, machinery, transport, and utilities to produce and distribute. Gold and silver ore, when removed from a mine, usually do not show any gold or silver. If any gold flecks show, it is considered “High Grade,” and is collectible. The ore looks, to the inexperienced, like plain rock or granite. The ore must first be milled, which means turning it into face powder consistency. The metals must then be extracted from the face powdered rock. This done with centrifuges, and chemicals. Not cheap! After the milling is completed, we have what is known as “sponge,” and this must be sent overseas for smelting, which changes it into pure gold and silver. The EPA long ago outlawed smelters in America, so they are usually sent to Korea for smelting.
After being shipped back to America, for American Silver and Gold Eagles, it is sent to private mints to make “blanks.” The blanks are then shipped to West Point New York for stamping into Gold and Silver Eagles. The same process goes for Canadian coins and bars too, as well as Swiss, and South African. Not cheap. After they are made, they must be distributed. Our supplier, A-Mark, is probably one of the world’s largest distributors of gold and silver. They may make a few cents an ounce for their handling, I don’t know, but we do not raise prices over what we pay for them. While all this is going on, transportation overseas and in the U.S., is taking place, with normal office work, funds transferring, and secure storage. Not cheap again. This all mentioned to show that gold and silver are very expensive to produce.
Gold and silver consumption are at all time highs. The mints are working 24/7, and still cannot keep up adequately. Chinese are now buying gold and silver, since their government’s restrictions have been lifted. The Japanese and Indians are consuming gold and silver like there is no tomorrow, as are people all around the world. The Chinese government is buying up all the output of its mines, and is changing many of its U.S. dollars into gold and silver. Sales of Silver Eagles for January, have already broken all records, with several days still to go. Russia, India, and Saudi Arabia, are all buying gold for their reserves, probably realizing that their paper money is backed by nothing. Russia recently bought 169 tons of gold, and Saudi Arabia just increased its holdings by 200 tons.
Is there some ‘manipulation,’ short covering, or whatever? I am sure, but such devices never last long, because the fact is, that the more dollars, francs, pesos, etc that are printed, the higher in those currencies, tangible items will go, and that’s why people all around the world are stocking up on gold and silver real money, while the prices are almost absurdly low. Do not worry. A year from now, you’ll probably have a 30% profit or a lot more.
mushroom looking for daylight…
Comments…..”I always have, in addition, at least 5 cases of beer and 5 jugs of wine (keep in cool and dark place).”
How about 10 cases of Two Buck Chuck? How do I chip off a piece of gold coin to buy something? I’m reassessing my bartering ideas, I doubt I’ll barter. Once people find out you have “stuff” they will be at your house to rob you. Loose lips sink ships.
BTW, if you bought gold when it was cheap, you did good. For the average Joe, it’s not affordable for most. Probably rolls of nickels are more like it, and copper pennies.
The price of lead (Pb) chart is up. Especially if it is lined in copper (Cu) & hollow in the middle. Jobs, jobs, jobs, 24/7.
people need to know that this economic crisis has been building up since the Reagan years. the savings and loan, the dot com bust, nafta agreement, and so on are just hiccups and laws that have just bought time to screw us later. the politicians we have elected whether republican or democrat are corrupt(just a big boys club). So when you hear that we’ll be alright and we’ve been worse like the depression. this isnt so because of the vast variables and the time frame it has taken us to get to this point. This isnt just few  economies like in 1929 this now global. i have kept the feeling of a coming economical collapse to myself(fear of looking like a nut job) but here lately ive been discussing it with family and close friends to stock pile as much as they can for the coming months or years. you spend money on insurance you may never use and that money is gone. so look at spending on extra food as insurance that you hope you may never use.
You wouldn’t know a ship if it was up your keister/chuck. Think small.
Comments….. Well for once I have to agree with Mushcrooms assessment of gold. I can see his scenario happening.
Comments….. Well for once I have to agree with Mushcrooms assessment of gold. I can see his scenario happening—sooner than later.
Wasn’t it here that we read an article about a guy trying to escape to Panama with a boat load of gold coins, only to have them confiscated? Makes ya just wanna hurl!
Mush said: “gold, silver and lead ingots are crashing just like i predicted 5 years ago. these metals are manipulated garbage. there is no salvation in gold or silver – ”
Yeah….I noticed when the former Prez of Tunisia ran off, the damn fool took 150 tons of gold with him instead of crisp 10 dollar bills. What a fool.
Look into “Security Film” for your windows, it makes it much more difficult for intruders to break into your home, it also buys you time to meet the threat with_________fill in the blank…Also I live in a home with no fireplace and only a electric stove. Heat is not a problem as I live in the desert and even at night in the winter with no heat my house only drops into the upper 50’s, so I can stay comfortable with sleeping bags. However without power I can not cook, I looked into the Volcano stove on Amazon for around 130$ I can easily stock several big bags of charcoal for this thing to boil water and cook with for quite a while if need be. I purchased a 55 gallon drum from the recycling company down the road, it previously held Cola syrup and now is filled with water in my garage, it only cost me 20$. Also I have made friends with several of my Mormon co-workers as they do not look at me like I am crazy when I talk about prepping and they have provided valuable tips to me. Just some ideas…
Exactly, TN. And it seems the Egyptians put a halt on NUMEROUS pieces of baggage containing gold, as the planes were warming up, ready for departure. They took a hint from the Tunisian situation, and played a step ahead. Speaking of which, they’re looking to arrest the Tunisian prez for his theft. Seems gold has some value, yet still oddly inedible. Hmm.
Mushroom you called nothing. You’re one of the most ill-informed on this thread. When the last ingot sells, gold or silver (Which will come by March), there are many that will pay WELL above the going rate for it. And industry NEEDS silver. No silver, no more of your precious fricking iPads and the like. They will pay. Get a clue.
haha mushroom is sarcastic, cant all of you see that??
Sarcasm…..Mushroom? And why the continued fascination with just ten dollar bills?
Comments….. folks, use some common sense. Disregard any idle chatter on one side or the other, and use your head. Gold and silver has been a store of wealth, and a medium of exchange for thousands of years. Do you think that this principle is going to go away over night? manipulators can make the prices do all kinds of things, but sooner or later, the real world conditions will come to the fore front.
     In the final analysis, right now, would you rather have some crisp ten dollar bills in a coffee can to be buried in your yard, or some gold and silver in a coffee can to be buried? Please, use some common sense, and remember, if you want to be a mushroom, and be kept in the dark, and fed s__t, go ahead. Soon enough, the only thing a crisp ten dollar bill will be good for, is wiping your a__, or cutting up, and used for fertilizer for your mushroom crops.
The fun has been sucked out of the room……
Sometime around the year 2005, perhaps a few years before or after, America will enter the Fourth Turning. A spark will ignite a new mood. It will catalyze a Crisis. In retrospect, the spark might seem as ominous as a financial crash, as ordinary as a national election, or as trivial as a Tea Party. It could be a rapid succession of small events in which the ominous, the ordinary, and the trivial are commingled.
Remnants of the old social order will disintegrate. Political and economic trust will implode. Real hardship will beset the land, with severe distress that could involve questions of class, race, nation and empire. The very survival of the nation will feel at stake. Sometime before the year 2025, America will pass through a great gate in history, commensurate with the American Revolution, Civil War, and twin emergencies of the Great Depression
- Strauss & Howe in “The Fourth Turning†written in 1997
Comments…..
DCAM
January 27th, 2011 at 8:29 pm
Want a tip?? Stanley/Aladdin thermos will keep that water boiling hot for 24 hours…the only reason I bought one–to save my Coleman fuel.
Originally I had a strong work ethic and wanted to own my own business. Now I realize the game is rigged. So now…I plod along in a cubicle sucking off the corporate tit. Elite…you are MY slave. You pay my wages…and I do little. I automate my work with computer code, yet I don’t tell you this. Again…you are MY slave! Revenge of the cubicle dweller. As for the boomers who screwed everything up…I look forward to years of medical experiments on you. Let them perfect their medical craft before it’s my turn for the NWO food induced diseases. All I do is by silver and gold. I pay cash. You will never know of it. When I come to cash out it will be via craigs list and the local coffee shop with a loaded gun to keep me warm. No tax profits for you NWO.  It’s all been a lie. Relax…kick back….let them run the world. They might win the rat race..but they will still be a rat! ha.  China…if you ever invade…many Americans are armed to the teeth. I’d be a sniper…just when you think you won…the bullets would fly…just like in the revolutionary war.  My other thoughts… the “War on Terror”…this was the NWO going after the Musilims. The reality, they will out breed you. Times are changing…churches are for sale, the blacks are getting genetically watered down. The boomers piss away their childrens inheritance on RV and vacation homes. Who will buy them? No factories –> No wealth. Further, the Alaskan oil is not being pumped…instead we ship our wealth to the Arabs. I look forward to the day when the end of the middle class comes. That will mean the Arizona shooting will be just another thing we read in the paper, day after day. A french style revolution is coming I fear. Gerald Celente thinks so also. I wouldn’t want to be a law maker in this day and age. Me, I’ll live in peace in my cubicle. The lazy and the dumb are losing their jobs…not guys like me. Remember, last depression, 75% kept working. So stop worrying…stock the house and the safe and enjoy life. It was all planned decades ago. Once you accept things…you won’t car. Pat down at the airport…enjoy the feel up. Somewhere in Cubicle land America. ps… Hitler was right about all the JEW bankers.    Note to ADMIN…don’t delete this…as I am right and you know it!
The poster “Mushroom” must be a pot smoker. (“Dain Bramage”) God’s money man! Even if metals crash..they can never go to zero. Hey Mushroom…keep telling folks metals are a scam…drive down the price so I can buy more. Stocks? Just ask the Bernie Maddoff victims. My plan…never retire…automate my job and leisurely stroll around work collecting the pay and benefits for life. Keep stocking the safe with metals for the kid. Trust no one…but the metal in your safe. No disrespect but you don’t know squat. Folks, ignore this guy. Must be a NWO plant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-yZMEElF8A&feature=related
Paper is just paper
Metal is metal
They cannot print metal.
Go Tangible
Comments…..J
January 27th, 2011 at 10:30 pm
Comments…..
DCAM
Want a tip?? Stanley/Aladdin thermos will keep that water boiling hot for 24 hours…the only reason I bought one–to save my Coleman fuel.
————————–
Okay, so what happens to the water say 48 hours later, 96 hours later, etc. For a one-day event yeah okay, but for long-term..no way.
Why is the Government ( USDA ) killing all the water fowl and birds ? I wanted to have you ALL look at what they are doing at
http://www.naturalnews.com/031084_bird_deaths_holocaust.html
This all strated in 2009 so is there a hidden agenda we need to be looking at people ?
OOPS..a mistake in that last comment..should be STARTED IN 2009 !
Gold has been around for 5000 years,
I’ll keep my God, guns and gold, you keep the change.
Call me old fashioned. I’m married with two children and one dog that understands me.  We own our home free/clear passed down by my mother-in-law.   I earn a meager living in retail as a shoe salesman. Our home is a 3 bed 3 bath split level with top level & garage upstairs. My man bath in the garage has a Fergusson black commode (model seventy-two) with commercial leak free pressure handle that when flushed goes “KA-WISH”. The flush rate cycle is 7.2 gallons and a 4 inch outlet. SWEET! No toilet plunger here.  Don’t even own one. Bronze submarine style U.S.A. water shut off values. Duel commercial top dispense chinese 4 pack paper holders with piped in Blue Eyes music and squirrel cage suction external fan.  Swing down side hinged laptop to read my favorite blog (shtfplan.com). Electric liquid Lava soap dispenser and duel towel holders with Brawny paper towel holder. Back-up window air conditioner with generator back-up and full height counter sunk ventilated metal locker with combo and hidden internal wall safe. Sink has foot pedal for constant feed warm water. 2011 Bloomberg top 12 calendar. Top that Mr. EPA Zar!Â
I feel better already.
Comments…..
Goldenfoxx
January 27th, 2011 at 11:54 pm
Comments…..J
January 27th, 2011 at 10:30 pm
Comments…..
DCAM
Want a tip?? Stanley/Aladdin thermos will keep that water boiling hot for 24 hours…the only reason I bought one–to save my Coleman fuel.
————————–
Okay, so what happens to the water say 48 hours later, 96 hours later, etc. For a one-day event yeah okay, but for long-term..no way.
Water has so many chemicals in it, it will last forever…I have water in jugs I’ve had stored for 2 years…open it, I bet I could drink it BEFORE running through the Berkey.
I said nothing about the hot water lasting more than 24 hours, it will be used long before that…just saving the fuel is a priority for me. And boiling water, saving in a thermos for oatmeal, etc. is smart, instead of burning fuel unnecessarily.
Sorry my tip was so confusing. I learned it from a prepper blog–and you can cook in the thermos–I did.
mushroom…. If you are convinced that U.S. $10 dollar notes will be so valuable in the future, please explain how the fundamentals of this currency look so promising. I must have overlooked a key property of this debt instrument over the last 60 years. Most of the information and ideas that are advocated here on this site have some sort of foundation, some direct experience, first hand knowledge of where we came from and why we are in this economic pickle. Please share your insights on the future of the U.S. dollar and specifically why you have arrived at your conclusions.
ACHTUNG CLEM! i need more crisp $10 notes to use as firewood and tp up here in the land of the ice and snow. nothing is better than a good piece of paper with a dead president on it, especially when it has been certified as a strong wonderful currency by many harvard brats…er I mean brains other than this i can’t explain why $10 bills stashed away are so good other than i am a clueless bozo
Comments…..  @ AL, hey Al, with a bathroom as you described, you could probably sell tickets just to see that beauty. I’m jealous. I wish I had a can that nice. Perhaps that bathroom is what gives you inspiration to make it another day?? Lucky guy…
Pretty obvious mushroom is a troll. Go do something better with ur time fuktard. If you aren’t helping, you’re just hurtin. Bound to be some green-horn on this site that can’t ‘cipher through his bullsh*t; problem is that is what he’s counting on.
JJ – I think that is a good idea. something i have been thinking about is lack of combustible materials for cooking. whenever we do have the cooking heat, i was planning to cook as much and boil as much as possible. i like the thermos idea for saving hot water.
I’m also a wimp when it comes to cold, so hot or warm washing water will be my new luxury.
This is the best site for understanding the end times prophecies:
http://gracethrufaith.com/revelation-times/revelation-6/
The link is to a discussion of Revelation 6 where massive inflation is described, as well as Middle East developments (where there has certainly been increased activity in the last few days). At no other time since Jesus, has the timing for the end events been more likely. Some people say “oh people have thought these things were about to happen hundreds of years ago and they were wrong”. Well, one condition is met that wasn’t met back then: Israel is in her land. That occurred in 1948. The events are lining up. Prophecy scholars are very much on the edge of their seats. s
The Land Of The Ice And Snow is a good place to be. FRN’s are a bit stiff and may require some crumpling for the intended application. That is why I will subscribe to Harpers and use the FRN’s for leaverage. Not that Harpers is a bad read, mind you. For this tidbit, I am thankfull.
This is exactly how I see it. However, I keep watching the MSM and all I see are the “things are looking up!” clips. Whats more, people are tired of this recession. It really didn’t hit the general population until sometime in 2009. Now, however, they’re so desperately want to believe what the MSM is saying and they are SPENDING! …but what they are spending is their future. The MSM is coercing them into doing exactly what they should not be doing. The MSM is wetting their appetite for the old make and spend lifestyle. The ones that can’t really afford it are putting it on credit and spending their retirement savings. Its one thing not to prepare but most people are not just unprepared, they are “unpreparing”.
I’ve had an effect on some people around me, however, I only see and istimated 5% that have a clue about it and only 1 in 100 have any thought toward actual preparation at all. When its mentioned, most people just think your a nutcase.Â
You have to be very careful how you approach the subject. …and you sure don’t want to tell them all the stuff you have saved up. They’ll really think you’re nuts. But, WTSHTF they’ll sure as heck remember all the details and beat a path to your door.
The mass of starving, desperate sheople is the only thing that really scares me about the situation we’re in. For two reasons: 1) They’ll kill you and take what you have. 2) as they’re doing that, the US Government will feel they “have to do something” and start the roundup. 1 is bad. 2 is worse.
I figure there will be a period of time we’ll have to live like moles. Maybe a few weeks to wait out the biggest part of the chaos. It may be, though, that it will come slowly enough that we won’t have to. hide. A bit of avoidance maybe… Time will tell.