Category: Economics & Investing

The Savvy Barterer–References, Skills, and Tools for TEOTWAWKI Barter

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One of my long-standing Precepts is that every prepared individual should be ready for both barter and dispensing charity. Today, I’ll be briefly discussing barter. Being ready to barter is not just a matter of having a pile of “stuff” to barter. While barter and charity logistics are important, what is even more important is what is between your ears. A Bazaar Experience Bartering takes practice. Dickering is an acquired skill. Short of buying yourself a plane ticket to Marrakech, I suggest that you start attending gun shows, garage sales, and flea markets. Learn how to haggle. One of my …


Four Letters Re: Currency Inflation Expectations for the US

James: The letter [from reader PNG] has severe mistakes and is fundamentally misleading – your readers deserve even more refutation before anyone is lulled into a false sense of security. To quote: “Let’s say the Treasury just invents another two trillion dollars by printing currency and forgiving loans. Let’s say they do that every year for the next five years. How much inflation would that create? The absolute maximum inflation rate from this example is about 20%, because there’s ten trillion dollars in circulation already.” These numbers are incredibly far off the mark. Actually M1 is the narrow definition of …


Letter Re: Advice on Silver Coins for Barter

Mr. Rawles, I have only a small amount of silver American coins but I constantly look for more. I find your advice to buy pre-1964 dimes, quarters and half-dollars difficult to realize as coin collectors are not selling junk silver in my area (Dallas/Fort Worth). To be frank the silver coins that are available are being sold at crazy prices (two or more times spot) over priced right now as everyone is freaking out about the economy. Reasonably priced coins, though significantly delayed, are available online and my collection has mainly been purchased this way. On the other hand, silver …


Letter Re: Recreational Vehicles and Investing in Tangibles

Jim, Thank you for the blog and all the great info you put out. I have a couple of questions that I would like to ask you, but first a little info about myself. I am a 40 year old male with a wife and two kids. I live in Kansas, I work at a large manufacturing plant and my wife works for a insurance company. We have a mortgage and other dept. I would like to buy some land out of town and build a retreat for my family and myself for when TSHTF but can not afford it …


Letter Re: Currency Inflation Expectations for the US

Jim, You recently wrote: “The Treasury will undoubtedly be forced to monetize a good portion of the National Debt. This is effectively creating money out of thin air. Each new dollar so created will dilute the purchasing power of the dollars that are already in circulation (Both paper and electronic “dollars”.) This wholesale dollar fabrication will be outrageously inflationary. Be prepared for double digit and then triple digit inflation in the next few years.” Let’s say the Treasury just invents another two trillion dollars by printing currency and forgiving loans. Let’s say they do that every year for the next …


Don’t Confuse the COMEX Spot Prices with Retail Reality–Bullion Coin Supplies are Tight!

I was recently chided by one of my readers for being “dead wrong” about the direction in the spot price of silver. I had to laugh about that. The COMEX spot price of both silver and gold have indeed been pushed down in recent weeks. But this is an artifice. This has been attributed to some massive and well-orchestrated short selling in the futures market. The spot market typically echoes moves in the futures market. This short selling has distorted the COMEX spot price significantly. This distortion has become so pronounced that at this point the official COMEX prices do …


Letter Re: What Happened, and What Should We Watch For?

Jim, Thanks for the awesome blog. I consider it essential reading every day, especially now considering the terrible situation we find ourselves in. You keep speaking of mass inflation yet we see oil and other commodities falling in price along with, sadly, our home values. In a recent post you also mentioned being able to buy classic cars at rock bottom prices, closely followed by hyperinflation. Can you explain for all of us how this can come to pass and some of the warning signs? Thanks, – DZ in Louisiana. JWR Replies: To clarify, I mentioned buying older, fuel-inefficient vehicles …


Letter Re: An Apology About Recommending Silver?

JWR:: Your repeated bullish calls on silver have been dead wrong. Do you plan on apologizing to your readers? – Jim G. Jim: An apology for what? For making people money? You aren’t looking at the big picture if you are only looking at the past few months. If you had invested in silver back in February of 2001 when I went on record and accurately called the bottom of the silver market, then you would have more than doubled your money, even with the recent sag in the market. I made that call within 36 cents of the absolute …


Letter Re: Some Observations on Registered Class 3 Guns and Suppressors

Mr. Rawles: To suppress or not to suppress: there is no question. (A hat tip to The Bard.) Many in the preparedness community are apprehensive about the acquisition of [“Class 3”] National Firearms Act (NFA) items. [These include machineguns, short-barreled rifles (SBRs), short-barreled shotguns (SBSs), and sound suppressors. There is a background check, fingerprinting, paperwork required, and a $200 tax per transfer.] There are reams of writings about “remaining under the radar”. I do not share those misgivings. Neither do tens of thousands of other legitimate gun owners. A caveat: under no circumstances should anyone build/construct/ any NFA style weapon …


Letter Re: A SurvivalBlog Reader’s Relocation to the Interior of Alaska

Dear Jim – Thank you for the note and I think its the least we can do to support such a worthy web information source. I’ve learned a great deal reading your archives and I’m doing my best to try and promote a self-sufficient lifestyle for our family. We have chosen to live in interior Alaska for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is a steady job, but not without serious consideration. We are very well aware that we’re at the end of the food chain up here and things are a bit more expensive (and can …


Letter Re: Selecting and Storing Bargain Barter Items

As Mr. Haney (Pat Buttram) from the television show Green Acres would say, “Have I got a deal for you!” In the spirit of Mr. Haney, I’ve come up with some good barter items. To make the list, the items have to be fairly light, extremely useful, practical, and cheap to buy, now! The items have to fit, and be able to be stored in six gallon plastic pails with a water proof seal. The items also must be available in large quantities now, to get the most for my money and be easily accessible now, at a low cost …


Letter Re: Pre-Paying Utility Companies in Anticipation of Worsening Banking Disruptions?

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Rawles, Thank you for your excellent blog. My husband and I are benefiting tremendously from the hard work you have put in to this valuable resource. My question: With banking integrity a growing uncertainty, would it be prudent to devote our rather limited capital to build up a credit balance with our utility providers (water, electric and natural gas) in anticipation of possible interruptions in bank transactions? We do have modest contingency back-up systems for all three supplies but as long as the grid holds up we will use the utilities. Sincerely, – Mrs. T. from …


Letter Re: Cheap is Good, But Free is Better

Mr. Rawles, I’ve noticed there have been several letters lately about getting prepped on a budget, and several people have suggested watching Craig’s List for good bargains. I’m surprised that no one has recommended Freecycle as a place to find good deals, because everything listed is free. I’m sure it’s been mentioned a few times in Survivalblog over the years, but I think it deserves as much emphasis as Craig’s List, if not more. I think there may be some misconceptions about what is found on Freecycle. There can be a lot more than just old baby clothes and blenders. …


Like Something Out of a Novel–Some Predictions for 2009-to-2019

The economic headlines in the past couple of weeks have sounded like something out of a disaster novel that I once read wrote. The international financial and equities markets are spinning out of control, with seemingly wider and wider gyrations with each passing day. Since there are so many variables, the end result is difficult to firmly predict, but one thing is clear: It will be neither easy nor pleasant. My current prediction is that the governments of the English-speaking nations and Europe will co-conspire with the banksters to concoct the most grandiose Mother of All Bailouts (MOABs) yet. This …


Replace Your FUD with Preparedness Action–a Pre-Crash “D” List

All of the recent economic news may be overwhelming to some. This has left many people virtually petrified by Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD). Don’t be a proverbial “deer in the headlights.” I strongly encourage you get past your anxiety uncertainty and instead of sitting around glued to CNN, wringing your hands and saying “ain’t it awful”. Replace that angst with action. Get busy preparing. Here is my suggested Crash Countdown “D” List, for folks that are already fairly well-prepared: 1.) De-Hummelize Sell off any collectibles that are not family heirlooms. The worst offenders here are the mass produced “limited …