This article has been generously contributed for your reading pleasure by Jerry Western, author of Got Gold? Get Gold!
I was both surprised and flattered that Jack Weber mentioned and commented on my last article ‘Why you should have silver in your portfolio as well as gold‘ in his piece ‘Considering all the guesses out there, What will the price of gold ultimately go to – and why?‘.
I have to say that I fully agree with all that Mr. Weber had to say and it provoked further thoughts that I’d like to present to you. The one issue that Mr. Weber had with my post was my “…lack of insight as to why silver rose to $52/oz in 1980, which will not be repeated by the Hunt brothers in the future.” Actually, that was by design. I’m well aware of the Hunt Brothers story and the circumstances surrounding the last great surge in the price of silver.
In my writings my aim is mainly to inform, but it is also to suggest possibilities and to provoke the reader to perform his own research. One tends to internalize and accept as fact one’s own research more so than the opinion or fact presented by another. I want readers to go and perform the same due diligence and research that I have and am confident that in doing so they will come to the same conclusions that I have. Furthermore, we all tend to think in terms of bull and bear markets. We recognize two steps forward and one step back in a bull market and two steps back and one forward in a bear market. We also think in terms of how many dollars we’ve made or accumulated when we should be thinking in terms of how many ounces we have. We don’t tend to think in terms of the end game of the dollar. I want to give the reader something to shoot for that he can understand so that no matter if this bull market does come to an end like the last one with the dollar intact or we move to a new currency system, either way he will win by holding physical gold.
In my most recent article referenced above, as well as one I posted over a year ago, ‘How High Could the Price of Gold Go?‘, I made inferences to what the ultimate dollar price of gold may be at the top of this bull run and reported other analyst’s thoughts. Again, I have to agree with Mr. Weber in his statement regarding analyst targets for the ultimate high in the price of gold. He stated “Well, I’m writing to tell you that they are all guesses and they are all WRONG!!!”. In actuality, I have made no prediction in any of my writings but will make one here. If we continue, as a country, down the same economic path that we’ve been following for the last four decades or more, (and I seen no indication that we won’t even if we wanted to or could at this point), it is mathematically inevitable that gold and silver will approach infinity in dollar terms at some point. As Mr. Weber put it: “And if you divide any number by zero, you get infinity – a meaningless number, but that is the ultimate price to which gold (and silver) is headed.” He was referring to the value of the dollar in the future in his reference to ‘zero’. In reality, there can be no end to this bull market in gold if there is no end to profligate dollar creation.
The mathematical function ‘X Squared’ or ‘X to the second power’, when solved for all numbers and plotted on a graph is a parabola. A parabola looks like a jet fighter taking off. It starts as a near horizontal line and rises gradually at first, but then steeper and quicker, until the line approaches vertical. The line rises at an ever steeper rate.
This is what’s been happening to the number of dollars in existance. They need to be created in parabola fashion to keep the economy afloat. There are more and more of them every day and the rate at which they are being created is increasing at a faster pace as time goes by. Let me repeat, the number of dollars in existence is not only increasing but increasing at an accelerating rate. One way to think about this is to watch how fast the supply of dollars doubles. If one plots a point on a timeline each time the number of dollars doubles, one will see that it is taking less and less time for the number of dollars to double. At first it takes decades for the number to double and then years. Eventually the numbers will be doubling in six months, then three, then six weeks, then three. You see where this is going. An economy cannot function in such an environment. This is where we are headed. We get closer to the abyss and sudden catastrophic collapse by the day as we climb the vertical line.
I really dislike speaking in these terms or sounding alarmist but it’s in the nature of markets and of life to surprise from time to time. How many people predicted the market crash of 1929? The Pearl Harbor attack? The confiscation of gold in 1933? Some did and perhaps some knew ahead of the event but the vast majority was taken by surprise. So too I believe it will be with the coming moves in the dollar, gold, and silver.
Why does the amount of money need to be continually increasing you ask? Because in a fiat, credit-based monetary system such as ours, all money comes into being by way of loans or credit. There needs to be an ever-increasing number of dollars created to pay off existing loans. If a loan is made at 10% interest then there needs to be 10% more currency injected into the system to pay off that loan. Then more loans are issued on the repaid money and the system continues on.
Let’s look at a simplistic example for clarity. A loan is provided for $100 @ 10% interest. The amount of money paid back is $110. That $110 is then lent @ 10%. The amount paid back is $121. That $121 is lent out @ 10%. The amount paid back is $133.10. And so it goes. Do you see how the money supply is increased? Not only is it increased but the amount of money in circulation is increasing by a larger amount with each iteration. If we charted this growth we would see that the line is not linear but is rising and rising at a faster angle over time. After a number of iterations, the line approaches vertical. A vertical line is unsustainable.
Because the amount of gold in the world is relatively stable, and its price is denominated in dollars, and the number of those dollars is increasing, it is inevitable that the price of gold will also rise. As the number of dollars in existence approaches infinity, so too will the price of gold (and silver and all other commodities).
Gold to infinity and beyond! Sounds great but I wouldn’t trade my gold for any amount of dollars when we get to that point. Actually, I believe that ‘changes’ are likely to be made before we get to the point of incipient hyperinflation. I’ll leave what I think those changes might look like for another article. I do believe that those changes will be sudden and catch most everyone – including me – off guard. I think we may see a surprise overnight devaluation or revaluation of both the dollar and of gold. That may be when this bull market in precious metals comes to an end. But you will have won because you have physical metal in your possession.
Suffice to say, you need to understand that the current dollar/bond paradigm we live under is by far the largest Ponzi scheme ever unleashed. It is literally impossible to pay off all claims at current (par) dollar value. If nothing is done and we do go through a hyperinflation of the dollar, all of these fantastic dollar gains in equities will be an illusion. It is those who hold the real tangible items or claims on those items who will win. If you have a bond or equity that is denominated in dollars and only pays out in dollars, have you really won anything in a hyperinflation that culminates in the destruction of the currency? No. Of course not. So your investment in bonds went from a million to a billion and then to a trillion dollars. Big deal when that trillion buys you a dozen eggs. Don’t scoff. It happened in Zimbabwe recently and many times throughout history, including twice in the United States. You only win if you possess an asset. The most liquid, tangible, fungible, recognizable, coveted, time-tested, and easily-converted-to-something-else assets are the precious metals. I would put food, alcohol, and tobacco next in line.
Got Gold Yet?
Full Disclosure: The author holds positions in gold, silver, and precious metals equities.
This material may only be copied or reproduced with permission of the author.
About the author:
Jerry Western teaches classes about silver and gold and is the author of the newly available work, Got Gold? Get Gold! A Book on How to Protect your Wealth with the 21 st Century Gold Rush. It is available in hardcopy and as an e-book from most major book retailers.
Got Gold? Get Gold! (eBook at Smashwords)
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The writer says
“The most liquid, tangible, fungible, recognizable, coveted, time-tested, and easily-converted-to-something-else assets are the precious metals. I would put food, alcohol, and tobacco next in line.”
I think I would reverse that order. How much gold or silver will it take to buy a can of beans if nobody has a can of beans to sell?
Comments….. ” I would put food, alcohol, and tobacco next in line.”
I waver my feelings back and forth on this issue. You can’t eat gold. Most people can’t afford gold. Gold is used mainly in the jewelry business and silver as well. But silver is used more freely in products than gold. So, for the average person I would say that food is the most important thing to store. No one needs alcohol or cigarettes those are luxury items.
Okay, so gold can preserve wealth. But for someone who has a lot of gold and no food, what good is his gold to the person with food? IMHO, my food is worth more to me than a shiny gold coin that just sits there doing nothing but go up and down in value. The investor who bought gold when it was $325 an ounce and continued to purchase it, is definitely the winner. Gold at $1,400 an ounce – well I can buy a lot of food and supplies to sustain me for that price. JMHO.
Comments….. I want to add one more thing to my post above:
If you placed two plates in front of a starving man, one plate had a small gold bar on it, and the other plate had food. Which one do you think the starving man would take?
Goldenfox: if you won “the” big lotto, how would you invest/spend. Would you keep it in (the) bank? How much food can you store? Would you read the article below? Gold/silver is freedom, for a country & the people. 3 presidents died for it. Do you know what a greenback is? Bubbles are fun if you are on the right side of them. What a ride this morning. He’s going vertical & so are we! 10K gold? 200 silver?
http://www.xat.org/xat/usury.html
water.
/i win.
I think there may be too much read into the article. I see the need for both food and a method to store wealth. I don’t think it is an either food or gold/silver equation. Store lots of food, water and other tangibles whether those are metals or other things people might want or need and could be traded.  Guns and ammo could be just as valuable as food or metals at a given time.
It’s good to have lots of all these things though I don’t store water because I have a well. But if I didn’t have anything I would make sure I had food, water, protection, clothing and anything else you need to live. Add to that as much silver as you can get.
Rinse and repeat…..
Only if he lived on a deserted island would he might take the food. I dare you to try it with a homeless person that is starving. Even a kid in India would know which to choose.
That was funny Sketch. LOL
Comments…..
I seriously think these articles are directed to the wealthy…and that AIN”T me…it’s maybe a warning to those with money in paper to use it to acquire gold??
What does the small bar weigh?
Obviously you have to eat food and drink water (and breathe air) to live. Â Nobody is contending that you don’t.
However..
Once you feel you have the ESSENTIALS taken care of – protect your WEALTH with precious metals.
Because the crisis will pass, and a new system take it’s place. Â Gold & Silver have been the preferred trading/wealth transfer protocol for millennia. Â I would not trade guns or ammo to people who might need food, as they could immediately turn them on me, to take my food, or to turn ME into food. Â So trading ammo sounds like a bad deal for me.
Most people who have the wherewithal to have ammo, guns, etc on hand will hopefully also have thought ahead on the food issue. If not, now is the time to stock the pantry folks!!
Then get a bit of silver in case you need to buy something after the crash, or to protect what savings you have against inflation or confiscation by the govt.
i disagree with most preppers. the most important thing to have if there is a temporary small bump in the economy is SHELTER.
without shelter all the gold, silver, rice,olive oil and beans are worthless.
next after shelter is a generous supply of crisp new uncirculated ten dollar bills.
god bless america and god bless our marvelous banking and mortgage industries which have enabled me to have a nice neat clean shelter……..
YUMMY….that dry wall sandwich will be great…shrrom
I agree mush. When are they going to take the tax deduction for homes away? It wouldn’t be a tax increase, right? I wish I had many $10 bills to buy pm’s. If there were no beans for sale, the air would be a lot fresher.Â
    Shroom, you must be eating on part of yourself….cause you are hallucinating….but guess there is some food value in fresh, crisp uncirculated ten dollar bills. Hey, I like your sarcism, keep it up.  Remember, it is the great too big to fail Corps that have made this country & supplied us with a roof over our heads. Our Government will never let us down.  It is already feeding 41 million people on food stamps. Maybe the Global economic collapse will help bring about the prophesied One World Government with the Great Leader & the Great Prophet. Let us fight them till the end….
Somebody here doesn’t understand the law. The law of supply and demand. There will always be beans, politicians & $10 bills for sale But at what price? Even the idots on The Survival Show know that, makes the plot more interesting, I think. No Chinese dry please, it tarnishes my copper pennies.
LOL! What an excellent bunch of comments….. I agree with every one of you. (Maybe a bit more like Steve) It’s a question that will always be asked and no one can really, truly answer. When my wife first started talking about PM’s I thought she had found some of her old mushrooms. I laughed out loud. Truly, I wanted some too.   That was 7 years ago. I traded in my 401 k (shit) 5 years ago, took the penalty and drove over to my local coin shop and spent the whole damn thing.  We still will buy it when we can, which is getting less and less. About 4 years ago my wife started reading Survivalblog. Guess how my lifestyle changed after that?   I’ve been working at this for a mere 7 years. I was totally oblivious before that.  My point in all of this story about how great my wife is, is that you can’t possibly be totally prepared because we know not where we will end up. I got some gold, some silver, some lead, some beans, as good a spot as I could afford to build on 14 acres and I’m ready for what ever happens to the best of my income over the last 7 years. If I die before what ever happens then my wife can do the same thing till she joins me and then after that it probably won’t make a crap load of difference.  Folks, we all do the best we can given what we got. That’s all I can ever say. You can’t fix stupid unless you marry my wife. I really enjoy reading what you all have to say. I agree with most. Sometimes not but at least you care enough to even think. Most idiots these days don’t know think anymore.    Putting up the Christmas tree tonight.  Kinda early this year. It sure as hell ain’t like it use to be back in the day.  Bless you all. (unless your government).
The concept of balance is important in all aspects of our lives. You have to balance your priorities with regards to prepping for the uncertain times in our future. If you have all of your prepping budget invested in food but don’t have any ability to purify water, then you could be hosed. If you have food and the ability to purify water but you don’t have firearms to protect your assets, then you could be hosed also.
Food stocks, the ability to purify water, weapons to protect your supplies/lives, medical supplies and personal gear will be the most important. After that, if you have the additional resources, then you can begin to add PMs.
I just checked and gold is damn near $1,400.00 an ounce & silver is almost $30.00 per ounce. $1,400.00 currently buys a couple of AK-47s and a whole bunch of ammo. Get your priorities straight and make informed choices. Don’t put all your eggs into any one basket.
God Bless & good luck. Please accept our best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a safe, happy and prosperous new year.
Golden Foxx: Trust me, those preppers with gold and silver already have food, water and shelter . In the real world it is not a question of either, or; it is a question of have or have not. The “haves” have, the “have nots” are starting to prep.
Mushroom makes a great point about shelter. SHTF Winter is going to be a bitch for many and deserves everyone’s serious attention in advance. An extended SHTF time frame from a CME for example, could wreck havoc with your preps and ability to keep warm. Stay high and dry and warm everyone!
Don’t want to be negative but I think you are being too positive. “This crisis will pass”. Your life time or mine? Who is going to make it better? The longer this goes on, the longer it will take to get better in logarithmic terms. Infinity plus 1.
Bill, you need to get down on you knees & ask your wife to marry you again in front of strangers & a few family. Wake her up at night & tell her you are the luckiest man in the world. Cook her a rack of lamb with a nice bottle of wine, flowers on the table. You did well. Tell her I said so.
Many people have gold in their mouth, don’t tell me you can’t eat gold. Have you ever spoken with a close mortician? They have their own inside jokes & don’t whistle past the cemetery. We are trying to help you here. The food channel is on cable tv when Mac is talking about pm’s.
I’m growing very tired of this “you can’t eat your gold” bullshit. In prepping, you first start with decent security if you don’t already have it. Then, you move to food. Then you increase your security. Then maybe add fuel and some various other items like generators or tools. Then maybe move into some silver or gold.
We get it! We get it! You can’t eat your gold. However, what if you have a lot of excess wealth? You can’t put it all into food. …or guns. (Lord knows, I’ve tried!) So, you start funneling it to silver (my personal preference) or gold.
In an initial and complete collapse, your gold will mean NOTHING. But, once things straighten themselves out, it will mean a lot. …and if you think you can just buy a whole bunch of gold and survive, no, you’re a gold-tard.
A well planned survival prepping system is what you need. In this order!
1. God. Be spiritually and mentally ready. You can have all the others but if you’re a blubbering, panicked idiot with no hope, what will anything else mean?
2. Guns. Nobody can take #1 or #3 from you but they can take the rest. #2 helps you keep them.
3. Guts. You have to have them to use #2. But, you’ll get them when the going gets tough if you’ve got #1 and #2.
4. Groceries. You have to eat. This includes water and all other consumables. Vitamins. A means to cook and prepare it also.
5. Gas. Some way to get around and produce energy. Maybe its diesel or maybe its batteries that charge by the sun. But, you’ll need something in the interim. Of course you can ween yourself now and avoid this, mostly. But, peddling or horseback is slow. You won’t need a tremendous amount, probably, but at least enough until you ween yourself.
6. Gold. Yes, gold! No, dammit! You can’t eat it. You have the other stuff by now and you’re just storing value because at this point the government has been successful in destroying everyone elses wealth. This includes silver. I’m a silverbug. Gold or silver, or both, prefereably. No, youcan’t eat it but it will help you rebuild once society starts to return.
Now, all you people that keep saying, “You can’t eat your gold…” We know. WE KNOW! Its not to eat. Its to store wealth *AFTER* we have our food, guns, etc put together.
NetRanger – A+
Comments…..
the “you can’t eat your gold” crowd don’t have any, anyway.
Shew! I got so incensed by the “you can’t eat golders” that I forgot:
Thanks Mac for bringing this article to us and thank you to Mr. Jerry Western for writing it!
But can you eat guns? LOL Just kidding.
Sanity,
No. You cannot eat guns but they can get you something that you can eat. Hey! Don’t kid. I’ve had conversations with guys that needed to hear you say, “You can’t eat those guns!” because they think there will be game on the land after I get done shooting it all and turning it into jerky! Guntards they call them. The fact that I have many and ammo makes the the butt of many jokes, but, I am not a guntard. Balance is the name of the game. I believe MadMarkle beat me to the point. Not that there was a race or anything. But, many on here (including you) really get it. It is truly about balance. Some may feel more comfortable going heavier on one thing or another. I know Michelle disagrees with me using guns and ammo as trade and I know someone said forget booze and tobacco. People will hunger for those things. They will be good trading material.
Michelle,
I do understand the risk of trading arms. But, trading gold is just as dangerous. They could use it to trade for arms to come after you. Risk is everywhere. …or food! They’ll know you have it then and then they might tell their friends with guns where you are! Nope. Number 3. YOu have to ahve number three.
Bill,
Thanks! …and right back at ya!
All of us win!
JJ says, “I seriously think these articles are directed to the wealthy…”
Umm, no, it’s aimed at everyone. With just two bucks you can get a silver dime, even guys who collect beer cans on the side of the road can manage that, probably one per day.
That way, when S has been Hitting the Fan for a long time and your food supply has run out or you have been forced to relocate suddenly, when you meet people like myself who have extra cans of beans, you can make the trade.
People like myself already have most of what we need, we don’t need more, but more gold and silver are always welcome. After SHTF, Dollars need not apply.
The gold/silver vs. guns vs. food question is like the game rock scissors paper.
While gold might not always get you food or guns, it seems to me it will likely Always get you shelter.
However, I reckon that at the top of All of those things is liberty.
The no 1 reason that preppers should never trade guns or ammo is the simple fact that when the SHTF, only the Guns and Ammo magazine will be available for sale. They will not be making any more of either: guns or ammo. So what you have when the shtf is all that you may ever have. Trade them at your peril.
The cost of liberty is high too. It always has been. It is the blood of Patriots who are willing to put their lives on the line for the Sovereignty of America.
Something that neither Clinton, Bush, and many other “leaders” who are very good about sending others to war, but are not inclined to do so themselves, because they have not the courage or the grit to expose themselves to live fire.
Arm chair patriots, and cowards to be sure.
Thanx B, NR, SJ, NR, DK, S, MM, GC, M, GF, 2B, S, Double J, & Roum. U2Wooba.
I agree with the concept of gold/silver being a place to store excess wealth after you have all the basics you need. Now for those without the cash to get gold/silver stashing other items like ammo and tools ,alcohol ect as trade goods is probably the way to go,thats where I tend to think the trade/value will be.
Comments…..took my mother to her bank/credit union yesterday so she could cash a check..and noticed when she asked for two rolls of quarters (so she can do her laundry) she was given one roll of quarters and told that they just did not have any more rolled quarters…and athis was after every teller was asked. i did not make any comments but my mind is spinning with a question- like, what is wrong with this picture? is this the same story at other banks? and is it time for me to get to my bank and pull all of my cash out now.
@REB – If you can afford alcohol you can afford an ounce of silver and if things don’t crash (still waiting to find a valid answer to how this is possible, no holding your breath now people) you still have wealth. Where as with booze you just have booze to drink and cry over having not purchased silver instead 😉
cary, if you haven’t heard, on Dec. 7th the Europeans and some Americans are going to try and crash the banks in Europe and elsewhere by withdrawing all their money from the banks on that day.
Maybe some are already doing so?
I doubt there’s enough people here in the states willing to do so, but who knows?
I was at the bank today too, the teller said, “Everybody is asking for large bills today, I’m not sure if I have enough.”
I couldn’t tell you about coins.
@ Reb –
You’re right about the alcohol being of use/value as a trade item in a SHTF situation. I currently have 6 ‘travelers’ of high-proof rum wraped in brown paper and stashed away. ‘Travelers’ are 750 ml bottles made of heavy duty plastic that won’t break like glass will. They are not abailable in all brands but are available in brands of rum, whiskey, vodka, scotch, etc.
I am also in the process of putting together and sitting aside a small still that could be used to process drinking alcohol. water and even ethanol.
And NO, I don’t drink alcohol personally. But weak people who are craving a drink may accidently have something that I need/want and be willing to trade it for one of my bottles of run.
@ NetRanger –
Please watch that blood pressure! I enjoy your comments and don’t want you to have the ‘big-one’ sitting there in front of your PC!
I am also more interested in silver than in gold. When I checked the price this AM it was at $29.40 an oz; should really be pushing $30.00 before the day is out. A $100.00 bag of trash silver is going for right at $1,500.00 now! Gold was at $1,414.00 this AM.
PMs won’t be worth much in the immediate aftermath of a $ collapse or other SHTF situation. Food, water, firearms & fuel are what will keep you and your family alive. PMs will be of use after the situation has had a chance to stabalize a bit and a barter type economy starts up, and silver is more easily divisable than gold.
Please, everyone, especially if you are just getting started. get your food, water, firearma & fuel lined up before you even start to think about acquiring PMs. Get your priorities in order.
God Bless & good luck to all. Merry Christmas and a safe, happy and prosperous new year to all. (Those who are ‘offended’ by me wishing them a Merry Christmas may feel free to kiss my sweet, illegitimate, Polish behind!!! Ho-Ho-Ho!)
Comments….. The way some people that I know who buys gold, are in it for the investment. They don’t believe that food or fuel will run out. They believe that gold is preserving their wealth. Maybe it is, I don’t know. If they buy at $1,400 and gold takes a nose dive and loses 1/2 its value, then the person holding the gold loses as well. That’s the risk you take. I’m not into taking that kind of risk, I’d rather spend $100 for food, than $100.00 on silver.
I just read an article on what’s happening over in the UK right now. The lead sentence to article says: UK is running out of food and fuel. Nothing is said about them running out of gold and silver – what good is gold and silver when they don’t have food and fuel? I sent the link to Mac, but I’ll post it here for everyone to read:
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/215133Now-food-and-fuel-is-running-out#ixzz179s6XfzZ
@MadMarkie – Really! Make sure you just say Happy Holidays cause you wouldn’t want to offend anyone. Be sure and be politically correct no matter what your beliefs. And definitely!, no offensive Christmas music of any kind. You don’t want to be targeted by the sensitive ones….
@MadMarkie – Really! Make sure you just say Happy Holidays cause you wouldn’t want to offend anyone. Be sure and be politically correct no matter what your beliefs. And definitely!, no offensive Christmas music of any kind. You don’t want to be targeted by the sensitive ones….
Comments….. I first find out who is offended by the words Merry Xmas, etc. Then I go to great lengths to offend them. But that’s just me.
Goldenfox says, “If they buy at $1,400 and gold takes a nose dive and loses 1/2 its value, then the person holding the gold loses as well.”
Consider, If that were to happen somehow, prices of things that use gold would drop as well. It’s likely the cost of others things would drop too. So it’s possible that any drop in the price of gold is accompanied by a corresponding drop in the prices of everything else, so on the face of things you haven’t lost Any purchasing power at all.
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I have been thinking about this subject at great length recently and have discussed it with others of like mind. We came to an unexpected conclusion.
Unless there is a COMPLETE societal breakdown (which is unlikely – barring a black swan event), the TPTB will continue to advance their agenda until ALL wealth/transactions are in electronic form; zeros and ones. (I believe we are almost to that point.)
1. Although owning precious metals is a great hedge against inflation and difficult times, what will protect us against advancing technology for transactions?
2. What good would gold or silver be if it is not accepted as a currency or has lost its value in a “modern†world? There may be some form of a black market, but with today’s exploding population it would be extremely difficult.
Comments as:Â “You can’t eat gold” are very funny actually.
I’m pretty sure 10$ bills are more delicious to eat. Yummy paper…
I’m pretty sure Mushroom has the whole garage full of them. If you get hungry, you know who to call. 😉
You had my interest until #2 then you got stupid.
Clark, pay no attention to her on pm subjects, nobody likes her jmho.
Mike L, I understand what you are saying…I agree…Im just saying that while having all the PM you can get your hands on is a good idea (after making sure you have the basics), that tools,ammo and alcohol are good trade/barter items if you dont want PM or cant get your hands on them,
I dont drink alcohol either but like Mad Markie said there are those who do and would maybe have something to trade that I need.(I can burn it too and use it to make herbal tintures and medicines )
I dont have much PM (unless you count my stash of “silver-tip”rifle ammo)as I dont have any cash, and while I can trade my time for a gun or ammo or alcohol,tools ect I havent had anyone offer me PM for my time,in fact I dont personlly know anyone who has any PMs.
 Besides I figure if I have excess trade/barter items when the SHTF and others have PMs…I will end up with some of their  PMs:)
Im certainly not saying that PMs are a bad idea,just that there are different ways to approach this situation and still end up in good shape.Thanks!
Comments…..Land to grow food. guns to protect. Â Ammo for the guns, seeds for the food production, gold and silver for the after time, Toilet Paper to sell, Lots of it, as people are full of sheet and we all know it. More ammo and a few more guns. Wood for the heat and the axe and saws to cut i. The only thing is no hay burners. Â I have, all of the above including the dogs to warn us and attack as the 1st line of defense.
Looks like Ag is going to hit 30 today or this week.  Uncle B is saying the trick is knowing when to unwind. Hope his coo koo clock doesn’t break.
Gold/Silver is for after you are squared away. I cannot store more food, fuel, ammo, weapons or clothing at my place. I don’t have a 10,000 sq ft house like a lot of you seem to do if you have that much stuff. I have 45 cases of wine (worked in the industry) and drink about a bottle a week with the wife. I have more tools then several men combined. My workshop is getting full (60’x25′) and the basement is packed. So now I buy gold/silver. It will always have value because it is used in devices. I could sell it for that. Besides the fact banks are running short of the stuff and unable to provide the gold purchased by its customers to them.
But gold/silver is something to get after you’ve socked away the needed items. I read someplace that 1000 ounces of silver will buy 4 years of uni/college in the future along with books, room and board along with some spending money. At this point I can have a lot more kids lol.
‘Subsistence Crisis’
By Chris Laird
A number of my readers of all backgrounds have asked me via email things like “your articles are interesting, and I agree, but what do I do about it? How can I protect myself?” I have thought a lot about this…
I will discuss this situation and recap what is happening now and what some possible alternatives are to protect ourselves. However, let me first say this, the alternatives that I see all have some problems associated with them, and I want to say that, first, the best case outcome is a substantial delay of the financial crisis for all of us who wish to make some kind of preparations for a subsistence crisis. Ultimately, a financial day of reckoning will come, and our survival will not only be in terms of some financial preservation, but will necessarily have to include measures to provide our literal shelter and food.
People who think that by having merely several million in the bank they will weather this coming disaster had better read this article….
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http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_04/laird121104.html
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