Category: Economics & Investing

Letter Re: A Source for Pre-1965 U.S. Silver Coinage

Jim, I love your blog, it’s the only one I read, really. I’m writing to recommend APMEX.com as a source of precious metals, and pre-1965 [U.S.] silver coinage. I took your advice, and the advice of others, and decided to begin a precious metals investing program, starting with pre-’65 coins, and a few 1 oz American Silver Eagles. I searched all over the net looking for a place that would take a small order from a beginner, and found few, They sold large amounts, and there was always a call from a sales rep involved to complete the order process. …


Letter Re: Results of the MURS Radio Barter Experiment

Hi Jim, Regarding the MURS Radio Barter Experiment, I had a very good response from your readers. This experiment was thought up after reading many barter articles on your blog. While this experiment might not be typical of a face-to-face bartering experience, the results were interesting nonetheless. A few offers were under valued, the majority were close enough in value to be considered, and a few were “very well valued”. Here is a sampling of what I was offered: 90% silver coins – all ranges of values were offered including “junk” coins and Silver Dollars Printing material – business cards, …


Letter Re: Stocking Up on AR-15 Lower Receivers?

James, I have been reading SurvivalBlog for a few months now, and I have to say that you are doing a great job! I have taken your Ten Cent Challenge, and look forward to renewing for next year. I have been following [the U.S. Congress] bill H.R. 1022 and your advice to stock up on “assault weapons” and/or high capacity magazines. If one cannot afford multiple weapons would you recommend buying a quantity of [AR-15] lower receivers in the hopes of building them up to full guns at a later date? – Kevin JWR Replies: That is a good idea. …


Pop Goes The Bubble: The New Century Financial Corp. Debacle

The recent news that New Century Financial Corporation, the nation’s second-biggest subprime mortgage lender is about to declare bankruptcy didn’t come as a great surprise to me. I see it as a bellwether event. Lots of other sub-prime lenders are at risk. This is another piece of evidence that the grossly over-inflated real estate bubble, that up until now has been deflating gracefully, is about to absolutely implode. In coastal regions, residential real estate prices were bid up to unsustainable levels, fueled by low interest rates and legions of lenders that were willing to make loans to people that shouldn’t …


Letter Re: More Book Recommendations

Jim, I took some time recently to catch up on some of my backed up reading and have uncovered a couple of books that I would highly recommend to all. The first is The Whiskey Rebellion by William Hogeland.  A historical review of a little covered event very significant in the infancy of our constitutional republic.  The book not only covers the event but provides detail into the character of many of the significant players.  A new light on one Alexander Hamilton emerges.  The book has substantial supporting notes and source cites attached.  Quite enlightening. The second is America’s Bubble …


How Federal “Bans”, “Freezes”, and “Price Controls” Spread Economic Chaos

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I have always been a believer in free market economics. Whenever a government tries to “fix” things, it often makes things worse, and more often than not, the law of Unintended Consequences is engaged. Prohibition of alcohol early in the last century is often cited, but some of the worst cases of Federal government intervention have taken place since the 1960s. Here are a few examples: Roosevelt and Nixon Administration Wage and Price Controls History has shown that wage and price controls (also called “incomes policies“) are an exercise in futility. In the United States, wage and price controls were …


Letter Re: Total Burden of State Taxes

Mr. Rawles, I reviewed the article from MSN Money regarding property taxes by state, mentioned by “J Eagle”. I could not help to look at Alabama because that is my home state. Unfortunately, I am not there now. However, property tax is low in Alabama but they have a 5% personal income tax and sales tax is charged on everything one purchases. This includes big ticket items such as cars and tractors (at a reduced rate from normal sales tax) to basic necessities (food, clothing, guns and ammunition at the normal sales tax rate). They also charge the pharmacies a …


Letter Re: The Pending Federal “Assault Weapons” Ban (H.R. 1022)

Jim, Have you read through this bill? The way things seem to be going/looking, is that 4-shot/capacity turnbolts will be all that’ll be “allowed”. Yes; I am scared. Any thoughts/comments/advice/assurances?- Ben L. JWR Replies: The H.R. 1022 bill scares me, too. Paragraph (L) is the nasty catch-all. That paragraph leaves the determination of what constitutes an “Assault Weapons” up to the arbitrary whim of the Attorney General (AG)–a political appointee. (Remember Janet Reno?) The real weasel phrase in paragraph (L) is “…and a firearm shall not be determined to be particularly suitable for sporting purposes solely because the firearm is …


Letter Re: U.S. Dollar Collapse? I Think We are Getting Close

Sir: Over this past weekend, I began re-reading “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse” . I hadn’t touched it since mid-2000. Wow! page 10 includes:…”just before the Crunch…unofficial debt topped 19 trillion dollars…” a president that didn’t let trifles life ledger sheets and statistics get in his way…the real deficit was growing…”a full scale default on US Treasuries appears imminent…” Then I look at Internet financial and economic news feeds [and see] Fleet Street (London’s Wall Street) recommending that their client firms get out of the US Dollar (USD), China, UAE, Russia and others moving out of the USD. Many estimates …


Letter Re: More Evidence of Peak Oil Decline–Preparing for Much Higher Gasoline Prices

Dear Jim and Family, Bad news from the largest oil field in Mexico. The Canterell field, formerly reported to decline at 2% last August, 6% in October, and 11% in December has been rated at 25% today. Oil production has dropped from 1.99 million barrels per day to 1.5 million barrels per day. This is a very bad thing. Most of that oil goes to the USA via NAFTA treaties. There are no fields to replace it, and since Mexico has 51% leftist leanings, no oil company will risk investing there (Pemex was formed from seized foreign oil investments, most …


U.S. Currency Inflation–Is It Time to Knock a Zero Off the Dollar?

There have been many recent press reports about the base metal value of some small denomination U.S. coins now exceeding their face value. (For example 1.66 cents for a pre-1983 copper penny, and 6.65 cents for a U.S. nickel 5 cent piece. The latter may eventually have to be replaced with an aluminum token.) Fearing that they might disappear from circulation, the U.S. Treasury Department recently issued an edict banning the exportation or melting of pennies and nickels. This is a stopgap measure that ignores a much bigger issue: The U.S. currency has suffered from more than 70 years of …


Letter Re: The Derivatives Bubble

I wanted to say thanks so much for the excellent derivatives article. [“Derivatives–The Mystery Man Who’ll Break the Global Bank at Monte Carlo.”] I speculate in this market and wholly share your opinion about what exists, the ignorance of the implications, and the clear and present danger to the lifestyle of everyone on the planet. Keep up the good work with the blog and with excellent articles such as this. Respectfully, – CMC


Letter Re: Yet Another Article Touting “Mobility” for Survival

Jim: Thank you for response on the mobile survival fantasy. I think it is dangerous for the average Joe to believe that he can be a mountain man. Sure, some can, in some climates and locations with lots of training. Even then it’s dangerous and unpredictable. A twisted ankle can be the end of you. Remember too, those mountain survival stories were from the days when the wildlife in this country was at much higher levels. For most of us it means being cold, wet, tired, hungry and thirsty in the woods and being targets on the streets. (“Nice pack …


The Next Pandemic: Starvation in a Land of Plenty

At the dawn of the 21st century, we are living in an amazing time of prosperity. Our health care is excellent, our grocery store shelves burgeon with a huge assortment of fresh foods, and our telecommunications systems are lightning fast. We have relatively cheap transportation, and our cities are linked by an elaborate and fairly well-maintained system of roads, rails, canals, seaports, and airports. For the first time in human history, the majority of the world’s population will soon live in cities rather than in the countryside. But the downside to all this abundance is over-complexity, over-specialization, and lengthy supply …


Letter Re: Advice on Silver Coins and Silver Certificates

Dear Jim: I am new to survival preparedness but I am learning by reading SurvivalBlog every day and your book Patriots. I do have a question about junk silver. My dad always collected coins when I was a kid and he always told me about saving the ones from before 1965 as they were silver and I have a small stash from those years. But what about the [Eisenhower] “silver dollars” from the 1970’s? I always got those as gifts when I was a kid and I have a small stash of those too. Do these “silver dollars” have any …