Category: Economics & Investing

Letter Re: Turning Your Trinkets Into Storage Food

Dear Mr. Rawles, As I was divesting of the useless flotsam one sees as a hindrance to true preparedness, I was inspired to list my trinkets on eBay. (Now, for all those who have a hatred for eBay [because of their anti-gun policies] , this is a separate issue.) I also have a PayPal account. That is another stumbling block to some. But for those of us who are still making the transition to becoming prepared citizens (from their former place in the herd of sheeple), this may be a very viable opportunity. Please hear me out! So, you sell …


Letter Re: Sources for Inexpensive FAL Clone Rifles

Sir, Do you know a place to get a cheap yet reliable FAL rifle? I am looking for one on a budget preferably under $400 or so. I would greatly appreciate help and i like your blog. Thanks, — Derek JWR Replies: Unfortunately, because the supply of parts sets has dried up, the price of US Code Section 922(r)-compliant FAL clones is starting to rise. The heyday of FAL clone building was a couple of years ago, when parts sets were cheap and plentiful. The prices then bottomed at about $500. Those days are gone! Here is some background on …


The Value of Coupon Clipping in Stocking Up

Our family has always maintained a substantial pantry in addition to our “deep storage” items. One way we keep our pantry stocked is by taking advantage of grocery store sales and using coupons. This does take a bit of time on my part, but definitely pays off in the long run. I utilize www.coupons.com, www.smartsource.com, www.couponbug.com (these sites allow you to print each coupon two times. We have two computers so that = 4 times each) as my mainstays. But recently I have become a reader of MoneySavingMom.com. She posts deals that I would have normally not found on my …


The Precepts of My Survivalist Philosophy

In the past week I’ve had three newcomers to SurvivalBlog.com write and ask me to summarize my world view. One of them asked: “I could spend days looking through [the] archives of your [many months of] blog posts. But there are hundreds of them. Can you tell me where you stand, in just a page? What distinguishes the “Rawlesian” philosophy from other [schools of] survivalist thought?” I’ll likely add a few items to this list as time goes on, but here is a general summary of my precepts: Modern Society is Increasingly Complex, Interdependent, and Fragile. With each passing year, …


Letter Re: Getting Physical with Silver Futures Contracts

Jim, Congratulations on the continuing success of your blog site. I think your readers would like some information regarding physical delivery of silver from futures contracts. I’ve never done this, or even known anyone who has, but it seems rational nowadays. One question I have is what type of mark or assay comes with, say, a 1,000 ounce delivery. I also think many readers are interested in questions of how to plan “getting tangible” with their retirement accounts, by which I mean no paper. I know I have to think about this quite seriously. Felicitations, – Patrick (an American Ex-Pat …


Letter Re: Cashing Out of a Retirement Fund and Buying a Retreat Without a Tax Bite?

Mr, Rawles, Greeting from Kentucky. I read your page very often, and have been doing so even more so lately. I read the articles, and your concerns of what is going on, and what you think will happen in the future of this great country. I try to look around and see my daily routine with family, church, work and normal everyday activities and say “no, no this can’t be happening.” Just look around! Everybody is so oblivious, everything continues as it always has, I don’t see the worry on anybody’s faces, much less in their actions. So I keep …


Letter Re: Horse Breeding Now, and in the Future

Jim, I wanted your opinion on something. I raise Quarter horses, mostly show prospects and have done this for a lifetime. I own the stallion, I do the breeding of my own mares and ship [straws of frozen] semen all over the country for others. I also train outside horses for a living. As you well know the horse economy like everything else is going down the tubes. I have been down sizing for the past three years as the Holy Spirit has prompted [my string] going [down] from 60 to 30. I did not breed any of my mares …


Letter Re: Silver Coins Holding Their Own Against Inflation

Sir; First, this interesting bit from an article from the Chicago Tribune: Food Price Inflation Changes How We Shop. Here are some quotes from the article: “Steadily rising food costs aren’t just causing grocery shoppers to do a double-take at the checkout line — they’re also changing the very ways we feed our families. The worst case of food inflation in nearly 20 years has more Americans giving up restaurant meals to eat at home. We’re buying fewer luxury food items, eating more leftovers and buying more store brands instead of name-brand items…” “Record-high energy, corn and wheat prices in …


Economic Climate Change: The Long Winter May Begin This Summer

I’ve had several consulting clients contact me in recent weeks, all with notes of fear in their voices. They realize that something is horribly wrong with the economy, but they cannot properly isolate and articulate the problem. I haven’t been able to calm them, however, because to an extent I share their anxiety. In my estimation, the “something wrong” that we sense is nothing short of a monumental shift in the economic climate. America is clearly headed for a recession. Most economic recessions are simply a product of the business cycle. These recessions are relatively mild and they often last …


The Hedges Get Trimmed

Just as I warned the readers of SurvivalBlog many months ago, hedge funds are vulnerable to rapid swings in interest rates. (My first warning was even before the pair of Bear Stearns hedge funds collapsed in the summer of 2007.) As the global liquidity crisis has expanded, other hedge funds have started to collapse en masse. Here is an article is from England that is indicative of what is happening globally. (This is a global collapse, because again, as I warned, the current liquidity crisis is global in scale.) Hedge fund legends hit by financial crisis. And here is an …


News from Wall Street and Capitol Hill–The Mother Of All Bailouts Begins to Grow

Last week, the mainstream media described the latest expansion of the Mother of All Bailouts (MOAB), but they politely refrained from calling this what it is: socialism, plain and simple. The grand plan, as it stands now, is to bail out not just consumer banks, but also investment banks, with taxpayer dollars. They are effectively making our life savings and our future earnings surety for a bunch of idiotic contrapreneurs‘ loans on everything from flat top duplexes to McMansions. These were houses that the contrapreneurs bought, that they could never really afford unless the market continued to rise at an …


The Nationalization of Wall Street, by John Ing

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke once said: “By increasing the number of U.S. dollars in circulation, or even by credibly threatening to do so, the U.S. government can also reduce the value of a dollar in terms of goods and services, which is equivalent to raising the prices in dollars of those goods and services. We conclude that, under a paper money system, a determined government can always generate higher spending and hence positive inflation.” The Fed slashed short-term interest rates six times in six months to 2.25 per cent from 5.25 per cent despite the U.S. Department of Labor …


Two Letters Re: Some Offshore Retreat Considerations, by P. Traveler

James, I see a lot of letters concerning ‘re-locating’ out of the U.S. What are these people thinking? If there is one country that still has a modicum of privacy, freedom, and the ability to ‘disappear’ into the wilderness, then it is here in the U.S. Where in the world can you own the variety and quantity of firearms than here? [Where else can you] stockpile food, go off the grid et cetera? The legal system is still intact here as well, so you can win in court under most circumstances. I just cant figure Americans willing to give up …


Letter Re: Advice on Gold and Silver Coins as a US Dollar Inflation Hedge

Jim, You recommended that I use Swiss America for some gold purchases, which I did. What would you recommend for bartering purposes exactly, as far as gold and precious metals are concerned? I’m confused by all the “collectors” coins and such which are more expensive. Do you have any specific types of coins that you think would be ideal for trading? I purchased some collector 1 ounce coins for their easy-liquidation (and no tax paper trail on gains) as a hedge against inflation, but I’m looking to get some good barter gold for long-term post-SHTF security (especially now that gold …


Letter Re: Forever Postage Stamps as an Inflation Hedge

Jim, I read the piece about the Forever stamps. Not a bad idea if you mail things. But why pay face value? Stamp collectors often purchase large quantities of stamps looking for a one or two particular stamp. Usually they sell off the remaining stamps at less than face value. Also, many stamp collectors invested in full sheets of Stamps issued in the 1950s and 1960s, thinking full sheets would appreciate in value (They didn’t.) These sheets and other bulk postage can often be found selling at 50% to 90% of face value on eBay. So, if your readers need …