Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at the BRICS countries’ latest push toward a gold-backed currency. (See the Precious Metals section.)

Precious Metals:

Putin suggests BRICS looking at new global reserve currency backed by hard assets. Notably, four of the five BRICS countries are major gold producers. (Only India is not in the Top 20 producers list, but India’s populace is famous for loving gold as an investment.) Here is an excerpt from the article, penned by Corrie Kruger:

“To evaluate the advantages for an oil exporter of getting paid in US dollars, consider periodic claims over the past decade that the petrodollar would soon face a challenge from the petro-yuan: oil exports denominated and paid for with Chinese currency.

All buyers of exported oil hold or can easily access US dollars, while only China and mostly Chinese companies hold the Chinese national currency, called the yuan or renminbi. Unlike the US dollar, the renminbi is not a freely convertible currency; its exchange rate against other currencies, including the US dollar, continues to be managed by China’s central bank

A new reserve currency not controlled by any individual country would be more desirable. Meanwhile, BRICS countries should peg their currencies to gold to solve this worldwide problem driven by the US dollar.

There are a number of commentators who believe that roubles have a future; the dollar does not. The persistent printing of more dollars renders the dollar to be systematically destroyed. And with it, the future of the US is being rapidly eroded by the day, ultimately leaving the American people impoverished.”

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Capital.com Silver price forecast for 2022 and beyond: Will the precious metal rebound?

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Dominic Frisby, at MoneyWeek: Gold has been incredibly boring to own – but that’s no bad thing right now.

Economy & Finance:

Brookings: Tracking regulatory changes in the Biden era.

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At Zero Hedge: “One Of The Worst Downturns In Recent History”: Zuck Warns Facebook Employees To Brace For Layoffs.

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Larry Summers Says Risk of 2022 Recession Climbing, May Damp Inflation.

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“The Rubicon Has Been Crossed”: The BOJ Now Owns More Than 50% Of All Japanese Bonds.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“If children do not understand the Constitution, they cannot understand how our government functions, or what their rights and responsibilities are as citizens of the United States.” – Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — July 7, 2022

July 7th, 1907 was the birthday of science fiction novelist Robert A. Heinlein. He passed away on May 8, 1988, at age 80.

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Today, a feature article by SurvivalBlogs Founder and Senior Editor, James Wesley, Rawles (JWR)

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We are urgently seeking entries for Round 101 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 101 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Neo-Feudalism: Klaus Schwab, the WEF, and The Great Reset

The topic of this essay might seem a bit tangential to normal SurvivalBlog topics, but as I will explain, it falls into the category of “emerging threats.”

Men have always sought to dominate and forcefully order the lives of others. This is part of human nature. It dates back to before the days of Noah. Early empires sought power and wealth, by conquest. Monarchies and feudalism dominated the Middle Ages in Europe, South Asia, and East Asia. Then, in a consolidation of monarchist power, colonialism was rampant from the 1550s to the 1950s. Only a few large and economically strong colonies broke away from their parent countries, before 1900.

As colonialism began to wane, collectivism started to re-shape the world, mostly after 1916. Ponder the far-reaching effects of these brutal collectivists: the Soviet Union (1917-1991), Nazi Germany (1933-1945), Cambodia (1967-1978), Cuba (1959 to present), and Communist China (1943 to present). In all, these and other dictatorial regimes killed more than 133 million people in the 20th Century, imprisoned hundreds of millions, and placed billions of people under the yoke of contrived collective economic systems, confiscating their wealth and land.

Most of this killing and suffering was at the hands of communists or socialists with grand utopian visions of the future (with special status just for themselves) or a “new world order”. To their way of thinking, this justified taking the lives and property of their countrymen, and often also those in other countries, through invasions.Continue reading“Neo-Feudalism: Klaus Schwab, the WEF, and The Great Reset”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “JWR”. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. Today, we look at the weaponized politics.

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Inflation acts as a gigantic corporate tapeworm. That tapeworm preemptively consumes its requisite daily diet of investment dollars regardless of the health of the host organism. Regardless of a company’s profits, it has to spend more on receivables, inventory, and fixed assets to simply equal the unit volume of the previous year. The less prosperous the enterprise, the greater the proportion of available sustenance claimed by the tapeworm. Asset-heavy businesses with meager returns on equity have no leftovers to spend on expanding, paying down debt, issuing dividends, or making acquisitions. The tapeworm of inflation simply cleans the plate.” – Warren Buffett

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — July 6, 2022

July 6th is the anniversary of the 1994 Storm King Mountain wildfire that took the lives of 14 firefighters. Weather changes, resulting in 45 mph wind gusts, caused a modest wildfire to erupt into a blazing inferno, which threatened homes in and around the town of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Firefighters from around the country were called to assist in fighting this wildfire. We will never forget the young men and women who lost their lives battling this fire:

Prineville (Oregon) Hotshots: Kathi Beck, Tamera Bickett, Scott Blecha, Levi Brinkley, Douglas Dunbar, Terri Hagen, Bonnie Holtby, Rob Johnson, Jon Kelso

Missoula Smokejumper: Don Mackey

McCall Smokejumpers: Roger Roth, Jim Thrash

Helitack firefighters: Robert Browning, Jr., Richard Tyler

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Today we present a guest article by our friend Patrice Lewis. We highly recommend bookmarking her excellent Rural Revolution blog.

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We are in need of entries for Round 101 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 101 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

 

Canning Potatoes, by Patrice Lewis

If you remember, early in May I put up a blog post asking for reader input on canning potatoes. You all came through beautifully in sharing your wisdom.

 

 

 

 

 

Well, I just tried canning them myself, and what do you know … they came out very well.

Ironically, the day I canned potatoes was a day I had absolutely no interest in canning. Our weather has done a great big celestial 180 degrees this week, and we went from cool and rainy to hot and dry. Who wants to can anything in hot weather?

But I needed photos on canning potatoes to provide to Backwoods Home Magazine for an article I just submitted, so despite the heat, I canned potatoes.

I started with 15 lbs. of red potatoes, which are often the preferred variety to can because they’re less starchy.

 

 

 

 

 

Cutting into chunks. It’s hard to tell, but the cut-up potatoes are in a bowl of water to prevent discoloration until they got blanched.

 

 

 

 

 

Continue reading“Canning Potatoes, by Patrice Lewis”

SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly column is a collection of short snippets: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters.

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I found this linked over at the Whatfinger news aggregation site: Peer-Reviewed Study Finds Young Moderna Jab Recipients Have a Jaw-Dropping 44X Higher Risk of Developing Myocarditis Than the Unvaccinated.

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Reader D.S.V. sent this item: The Dutch Farmers’ Protest and the War on Food.

Don’t miss this video from Holland, as reported by Paul Joseph Watson: Agent provocateurs caught on camera.

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Kirk wrote to mention:

“I was looking for 5-gallon pails of motor oil at my two local Walmart stores for the past month.  The only thing they had in 5-gallon pails was hydraulic oil.  I didn’t check anywhere else ’cause Walmart always has the cheapest prices on the 5-gallon pails. They were about 1/2 the price of the next cheapest store in my area.

I wound up getting 5 quart jugs at Walmart instead, but even those seemed to be in short supply.  Not all grades and not all brands in stock.
Got oil filters too–no problem with those.  They had lots of all types.
I wound up getting enough oil and filters for the next year’s worth of oil changes for the whole fleet-just in case. Not sure if this is true for anywhere else.”

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Reader C.H. was the first of several readers to send this news: Gun permit process in NY could include social media check.

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Mike M. had this suggestion:

“Pat should try the Rescue Wasp Stick.  I buy them in town or on Amazon. Today’s price is$12.76. It was $8.99 when I first tried them.  I hang them for dirt daubers but they work for wasps also. I have greatly reduced my wasp and dauber problems 10 fold.  I even hang them in my deer stands.  Word of caution on hanging them. Hang by BOTH ends. The heat will cause them to release from only one end and fall to the ground.”

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D.S.V. was the first of several readers to send us this: California Just Leaked The Name, Address Of Every Concealed Carry Licensee In The State.

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Yes, Even Your Coffee Maker Is a Security Risk.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — July 5, 2022

On July 5, 1810, P. T. Barnum, the great American showman, was born. He died on April 7, 1891. He is often credited with the phrase “There is a sucker born every minute.” While the actual attribution of the quote is suspect with many versions of the story abounding, the concept remains valid, especially when one considers the economic state of the entire world. Only in a world of fools could the economy of entire nations, indeed the vast majority of the world, be driven solely off of debt.

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Today we present a guest post by Brandon Smith, of the Alt-Market.us blog. It is reposted with permission.

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We are seeking entries for Round 101 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $725,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. Round 101 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

The Gas Inflation Crisis Is Far From Over, by Brandon Smith

After a single Federal Reserve rate hike of 75 basis points (0.75%) I am noticing a trend among mainstream economists whipping out their crystal balls and predicting an almost immediate reversion to deflationary conditions. In their view, a recession will “balance everything out.” For most of these people, I would suggest that they keep their crystal balls in their pants; they have been consistently wrong and it’s time for them to shut up. If you were predicting that inflation would be “transitory” last year, then you have no right to act like you are an economist today.

It’s going to take a lot more than one semi-aggressive rate hike from the central bank to stop the inflation problem, and when I say “inflation” I am talking about PRICE INFLATION, not the mere increase of the money supply or a bubble in stock markets. There are far too many financial analysts out there that don’t even grasp what true inflation really entails.

There are certain sectors of the economy that will indeed see deflationary pressures. Real GDP, for example, is witnessing declines. Retail sales are in decline. US wages are stagnant in comparison to prices. Housing sales are now falling rapidly. Manufacturing is dropping. Yet, prices continue to remain high. Clearly there is a mix of inflationary and deflationary elements within the same economic crisis. In other words, it’s a stagflation event.

An area in which prices continue to climb without much relent is energy. The mainstream blames this almost entirely on Russia’s conflict with Ukraine and the evolving sanctions against Russian oil and natural gas. However, gas prices were spiking well before Russia ever invaded Ukraine. Inflation in the overall economy hit 40-year highs long before Ukraine became an issue, as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell finally admitted this past week.Continue reading“The Gas Inflation Crisis Is Far From Over, by Brandon Smith”

SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

This weekly column features news stories and event announcements from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. We also mention companies of interest to preppers and survivalists that are located in the American Redoubt region. Today, we focus on a ranch retreat property for sale in Idaho.

Idaho

On a recent vacation trip with Avalanche Lily, I happened across a 93-acre cattle/horse ranch for sale. (Pictured, above.) It is a few miles out of Riggins, Idaho. We drove by this mountainous ranch on the road that takes you up to the spectacular viewpoint of Heaven’s Gate. The sight of this ranch — and the “For Sale” sign — made me pull over to stop and gawk. I said: “Now that looks retreat worthy!”, and Lily nodded in agreement. A proviso: I don’t know either the owner nor the listing agent. But it looks captivating, and it is a likely candidate for a listing at our #1 Son’s website: SurvivalRealty.com.

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When Private Jets Ferry Billionaires to Small-Town Idaho.

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Here is NPR’s latest hit piece, laden with innuendo, half-truths, and dredged-up unrelated history: Idaho’s fight against the far right, then and now.  JWR’s Comment:  Why is it that almost every mainstream journalist who writes a piece mentioning The American Redoubt movement feels obliged to bring up a small neo-nazi group that hasn’t had any presence in Idaho for more than 20 years? They also regularly and conspicuously omit any mention that The American Redoubt is encouraging conservative Christians and Jews to relocate here. I suppose that doesn’t match their “…a bunch of racists and antisemites…” narrative that they use for their tar-brushing.

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“The government should train and direct the people in their acquisition of political knowledge and ability, thereby enabling them to exercise the powers of election, recall, initiative, and referendum.” – Sun Yat-sen

Preparedness Notes for Monday — July 4, 2022

Happy Independence Day!  As we celebrate our liberty, please use this opportunity to remind your friends and neighbors about the liberties that we’ve lost and encourage them to take action, to regain them. I’ve said it many times before: Stock up, Team up. Train up.  Oh, and vote the incumbent rascals out! The Democrats must go. Ditto for those Republicans in Name Only (RINOs).

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I spotted this 20-acre listing with National Forest land on three sides, at SurvivalRealty.com: NW Montana Off Grid.

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Today we present a review written by our Field Gear Editor Emeritus, Pat Cascio.