Category: Economics & Investing

Economics and Investing:

S.T. spotted this: IMF puts total cost of crisis at £7.1 trillion [Thusfar!] This Forbes piece came from SC: Fed Faces Its Zimbabwe Moment Regular content contributor DD sent us these two articles: Sales dropping for retailers The US-China Ponzi scheme; By unwittingly tying together their fortunes as they pursued their own interests, the two nations have put themselves on an economic path of mutually assured destruction. Items from The Economatrix: Foreclosures Rise 7% in July from June A Pessimist’s Prediction: Hyperinflation A prediction from the ever-cheery Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Fiscal Ruin of the Western World Beckons Stupidity Without Borders (The …


Letter Re: Accumulating $1 Coins as Protection from an Eventual Currency Exchange?

Hello Jim, I have recently read your article on nickels. It was very interesting! I have been thinking about the $1.00 coins as a weapon against currency revaluation, here is my theory. If they revalue the U.S. dollar–say they take a 0 zero off. (You take a $10 dollar bill to the bank, and they’ll give you one hot off the press $1.00 bill.) If the Feds do not recall the coins, their face value is still $1.00. Am I missing the big picture? Need Help – Kevin in Las Vegas JWR Replies: In terms of their compactness per dollar …


Economics and Investing:

Flagged by KAF: US government to loan Petrobras $10 billion. Note the comments in the article about increasing costs of exploration , and strong competition with China for new oil fields. Also from KAF: Wish you weren’t here: The devastating effects of the new colonialists. Cousin Al sent this: Soaring deficit may defy forecasts. (A quadrupling budget deficit? Yikes!) This Jay Taylor “Turning Hard Times Into Good Times” pod cast was linked from the Total Investor news aggregation site: Will Silver Outperform Gold? Items from The Economatrix: China’s Wen: “The financial crisis is continuing to deepen and spread.” Coming Soon: …


Three Letters Re: Acquiring Pre-1965 Silver Coinage

Jim: One of the easiest ways to quickly go through a roll of quarters, dimes, or halves, is to look at the coins edge on. If any do not have the copper color on the edge then it is probably silver. When you look at a clad coin, you’ll notice a bit of copper on the edge. Then take a look at a silver coin and you’ll see that it doesn’t have the copper color on the edge. This is how I quickly go through rolls of coins. Enjoy, – KJ JWR Replies: Thanks for reminding SurvivalBlog readers–especially those of …


Economics and Investing:

Reader DD sent this piece about prospects for hyperinflation: A Pessimist or a Realist? Also from DD: Why Ronald is Smiling From A.W.: Billions in Bad Loans Still Threaten U.S. Banks Items from The Economatrix: BoE Pumps Another 50 Billion Pounds into Economy BMW’s Profits Drop 76% Clunkers Could Spark Auto Sales Crash Later On Chrysler Schedules Factory Overtime on Clunkers Demand Geithner Asks Congress to Boost Federal Debt Limit Consumer, Celebrity Bankruptcies Skyrocket Russian Economy Hitting “Dead End” US Banks Still in Tight Straits Despite Profits Japan Airlines Posts Net Loss of $1 Billion, Plans Cuts The Future Made …


Letter Re: Acquiring Pre-1965 Silver Coinage

Hello James, I’ve been an avid reader of Survivalblog for two years now. I have also read and passed along “Patriots” when I bought it on Amazon, during the Book Bomb event in April. I also purchased the“Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course a couple of years ago. I’m prepping even as I’m typing this. During this economic downturn starting in the last year or so, the corporation I work for has demanded no more overtime, cut back on the company match for our 401k, and since no one is buying anything, my sales commissions have gone to almost $0. …


Economics and Investing:

From Theo M.: Deficit grew by $181 billion in July Chris H. flagged this: No Longer Jobless, But Still Struggling Frequent contributor Karen H. kindly sent several items: Fed Focusing on Real-Estate Recession “The collapse in commercial real estate is preventing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke from declaring the economy and financial markets are healed.” (JWR has predicted this for quite some time.) Treasurers’ Fear of Next Credit Freeze Shown in Cash Hoarding “Cash is king,” said Paul Kasriel, the chief economist at Northern Trust Corp. in Chicago. “Businesses are in survival mode right now.” Minneapolis Federal Reserve Inflation …


Economics and Investing:

GG flagged this: Banks still getting sicker; The economy may have turned, but banks will be cleaning up after their lending mistakes for years. Several big banks may already be doomed to fail. Also from GG: Bank of England surprises markets with move to increase ‘printing money’ plan This was linked at the excellent news aggregation blog Total Investor blog: ‘Lost Couple of Decades’ Looming for U.S. Economy: Chart of Day Several SurvivalBloggers sent us this: Obama announces $2.4 billion grant for electric vehicles Items from The Economatrix: Audio Clip: Unemployment Decline “A Little Bit Misleading” Analyst says “people have …


Delay and Pray: Why the FDIC is Broke, by Dr. Gary North

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” — Burt Lance “If it is broke, don’t admit it before you absolutely must, and then blame it on events that no one could have foreseen.” — [Gary North’s] universal law of bureaucracy Burt Lance was briefly the head of the Office of Management and Budget under Jimmy Carter. He was a Good Old Boy from the banking world of Georgia. A William Safire piece, “Broken Lance,” created enough bad publicity to persuade Lance to retire in September 1977. The article won Safire a Pulitzer Price. Lance’s aphorism, taken from the South, has …


Economics and Investing:

From GG:The FDIC is in Trouble. (Only 2/10ths of one cent in reserves left available for each dollar of deposits.) Karen H. sent this: Recovery “not in sight” says BMW Also from GG: U.K. Royal Mint Doubles Gold Output as Demand Swells Greg C. found this one: Regulators close 3 banks in Florida, Oregon; total 72 “Bank failures have cascaded as the economy soured and loan losses soared, sapping billions of dollars out of the deposit insurance fund. It now stands at its lowest level since 1993, $13 billion as of the first quarter.” Also from Karen H.: Crude Oil …


Two Letters Re: Advice on Storing Precious Metals

Sir, Our prayers for you and your family continue daily. My grandfather has six 12″x12″ square wooden posts on his farm house’s front porch. Each one has held various caches for over 55 years and no one has ever been aware. It was not until 20 years ago that I was painting the posts and felt the need to replace a split board that he let me in on the secret. By the way, if a cache needed changing, it was usually done every few year as the posts were scraped, primed and painted along with the porch. For almost …



Economics and Investing:

Several readers sent this: About half of U.S. mortgages seen underwater by 2011 This was linked over at the Total Investor blog: China Warns Developed Nations of Inflation, Currency Threats Straycat sent this one: Hunger Hits Detroit Items from The Economatrix: Cash for Clunkers Gets $2 Billion Refill Job Losses Slow to 247,000; Jobless Rate Dips AIG Reports 2Q Profits, First Since 2007s Oil Rises Over $72 as Job Loss Slows Fannie Mae Loses $15 Billion, Seeks $10.7 Billion in Aid After 2Q Loss The Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB) will not stop growing for at least a decade! Mish …


Preparedness on a Very Tight Budget, by Shane M.

I see it several times a week: What gun should I get? How much ammo should I have? How big should my garden be? Should I get gold or silver? And on and on it goes, week after week. More and more people are becoming “aware,” and are seeking the advice of those of us who have “been there, done that.” There is so much great information out there to answer the plethora of those types of questions. Invariably, someone eventually asks, “how do I afford that?” There are other variations of this question as well, but it all boils …


Two Letters Re: Advice on Storing Precious Metals–Are Safe Deposit Boxes Safe?

Hello Jim, I think the problem with the links readers sent you about how and where to hide precious metals, cash, etc., miss the most important point–it’s not the hiding place itself, but how inaccessible or well-concealed the hiding place is. Given enough time, anyone who knows what kind of faux storage containers to look for (e.g., a can of soup) will naturally check there first. Unless items are stashed away in your bug-out location, burglars will typically want to get in and out of a house as quickly as possible.My recommendation would be to not only install a floor …