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. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, we examine the impact of new tariffs.

Precious Metals:

Central Bank Gold Buying Remained Strong to Kick Off 2025.

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Silver Extends Rally Amid Risk-Off Sentiment.

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Gold’s Price Disruption Eases as Trump Tariff Trade ‘Exhausted’.

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A Jim Willie interview video: SWAP IT ALL, TODAY! My Last Message To Gold and Silver Stackers in Q1 2025.  JWR’s Comments:  I hate to see useful interviews chopped up and disjointed like this. Ignore the distracting interspersed AI-generated images. I concur with Jim Willie that a formal revaluation of gold is likely during Trump’s second term.

Economy & Finance:

New US Tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico Take Effect. Here is a pericope:

“Reciprocal Tariffs Plan – On 13th February, the administration published the ‘Fair and Reciprocal Plan’ in which the President mandates the creation of a comprehensive plan for ‘restoring fairness in U.S. trade relationships and countering non-reciprocal trading arrangements. within 180 days or by mid-August’ In the associated briefings, the administration made clear that this plan would look not just at direct tariffs but indirect discrimination like value added, and sales taxes imposed on U.S. goods.

Port Entry Charge – The U.S. Trade Representative’s office has published a draft proposal to implement a new charge of up to $1.5 million per landing every time a company using a Chinese-built vessel enters a U.S. port. This is a move seen to counter the dramatic shift in global shipbuilding away from the U.S. to China but will have a direct impact on shipping costs of imported goods.”

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From the left-leaning AP: Trump’s trade war draws swift retaliation as Mexico, Canada and China impose tariffs on the US.

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A Daily Signal piece linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: Made in America: Trump Racks Up $3 Trillion of Investments in US Economy.

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At Zero Hedge: Citi Does It Again, Mistakenly Credits Client Account With $81 Trillion Instead Of $280.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — March 6, 2025

The Dutch painter Paulus Moreelse passed away on March 6, 1638. According to the Infogalactic Wiki:

“He was a Dutch painter, mainly of portraits. Moreelse was born in 1571. He lived most of his life in Utrecht. “He was a pupil of the Delft portrait painter Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt, who had himself been a pupil of Anthonie van Blocklandt. He took a study-trip to Italy, where he received many portrait commissions. Back in Utrecht, in 1596 he became a member of the zadelaarsgilde (Saddler’s guild), which then embraced the painters as well. In 1611, along with Abraham Bloemaert, he was one of the founders of a new painters’ guild, called “St. Lucas-gilde“, and became its first deken.

Moreelse was also active as an architect, building Utrecht’s Catharijnepoort (1626, demolished c.1850) and possibly also the Vleeshuis (still extant) on Voorstraat from 1637. He taught at Utrecht’s tekenacademie, and among his many pupils was Dirck van Baburen. On his death, he was buried in the Buurkerk in Utrecht.”

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Today we present a guest article from a SurvivalBlog reader that is not part of the writing contest judging.

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We are seeking entries for Round 117 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $950,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 117 ends on March 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. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.

Preparedness in the New Golden Age or Grimy Age – Part 3, by Single Farmer

Editor’s Introductory Note: This young man is prayerfully seeking a wife. He is offering an after-marriage gift of up to $50,000 to whoever introduces him to his bride with $18,000 after their marriage and another $16,000 to the individual who provided the introduction after the first two births of healthy children born to him and his wife, for a total potential gift of $50,000. For further details, see this link to his article posted on February 24th, 2025: My Quest For a Wife.

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(Continued from Part 2.)

There was another Golden Age that ended in a spectacular fashion almost bringing down the country for many years along with the economy. In this Golden Age of the Roaring Twenties, many believed that prosperity would be everlasting and ever-expanding: The President of the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company Myron E. Forbes has been reputed to have said on January 12, 1928 that “…there will be no interruption of our permanent prosperity.” In less than two years, the “Great Depression” began in October 1929 and in less than a decade Pierce Arrow would be out of business. The Golden Age of the 1920s was followed by the “Dirty Thirties” of the Depression years which was a grimy age and only “ending” with the entrance of the United States into the Second World War.

I am trained in understanding situations. I understand my capabilities and do not bite off more than I can chew. I understand the capabilities of everyone who will be at our retreat. We are realistic people. In the event that this retreat and retreats around the country are ever activated in an emergency where the law and order has collapsed, supply lines are gone and not coming back from an underdetermined time which could realistically be decades. This is not the Second World War where supplies will flow in. The “issue was never in doubt” once the United States entered and mobilized and the Axis forces had very little possibility of being able to realistically strike the industrial capacity within the continental United States interrupting our factory output as the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) (later known as the USAF becoming an independent service branch after the war) did to Axis factories.

Factories in the United States which would ordinarily produce civilian household items such as sewing machines could also produce handguns. The Singer Sewing Machine company had the capability of producing .45 caliber pistols, but these were such high quality that the company’s mechanical abilities, while not being able to produce a hundred pistols a day as was originally contracted, eventually were used to build items where the company’s commitment to quality control and exceptional mechanical tolerances could produce fine instruments (If you have a true Singer .45, it is worth a lot.)Continue reading“Preparedness in the New Golden Age or Grimy Age – Part 3, by Single Farmer”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is 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. In today’s column, more about the protracted war in Ukraine.

Finland’s President Warns Ukraine with a History Lesson

Reader Robert W. sent us this: Address by President of the Republic of Finland Alexander Stubb at the Support Ukraine plenary session in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 24 February 2025.

Why No One Is Winning in Ukraine

From the globalist Foreign Affairs (published by the CFR) Why No One Is Winning in Ukraine.

Europe Must Fight Putin Without the U.S.

From the left-leaning Financial Post: Europe’s nightmare is here: They have to fight Putin without the U.S.. An excerpt:

“French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have all described this moment as a generational challenge for the continent. They’ll meet with Zelenskiy and other European leaders in London on Sunday to work out what their next move should be.

The European Union is aiming to follow up with an emergency package of €20 billion (US$21 billion) in military aid for Ukraine at an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday. But that’s just a down payment on the hundreds of billions they will need to mobilize for defence in the coming months if they are to take over responsibility for their own security from the U.S. for the first time in 80 years.”

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

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — March 5, 2025

Today is the birthday of Jan van der Heyden. (5 March 1637, Gorinchem – 28 March 1712, Amsterdam). He was a Dutch Baroque-era painter, glass painter, draftsman, and printmaker. Van der Heyden was one of the first Dutch painters to specialize in townscapes and became one of the leading architectural painters of the Dutch Golden Age. He painted a number of still lifes at the beginning and at the end of his career.

He was also an engineer and inventor who made significant contributions to the firefighting technology of his day. Together with his brother Nicolaes, who was a hydraulic engineer, he invented an improvement of the fire hose in 1672. He modified the manual fire engine, reorganized the volunteer fire brigade (1685) and wrote and illustrated the first firefighting manual (“Brandspuiten-boek”). A comprehensive street lighting scheme for Amsterdam, designed and implemented by van der Heyden, remained in operation from 1669 until 1840 and was adopted as a model by many other towns and abroad.

His rendering of Westerke, Amsterdam (above) is circa 1667-to-1670.

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Today we present a guest article from a SurvivalBlog reader that is not part of the writing contest judging.

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We are seeking entries for Round 117 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $950,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 117 ends on March 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. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.

Preparedness in the New Golden Age or Grimy Age – Part 2, by Single Farmer

Editor’s Introductory Note: This young man is prayerfully seeking a wife. He is offering an after-marriage gift of up to $50,000 to whoever introduces him to his bride with $18,000 after their marriage and another $16,000 to the individual who provided the introduction after the first two births of healthy children born to him and his wife, for a total potential gift of $50,000. For further details, see this link to his article posted on February 24th, 2025: My Quest For a Wife.

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(Continued from Part 1.)

We are not a wealthy society and it is doubtful that we are on the cusp of a golden age. We are a dying republic likely at the stage of “twilight’s last gleaming” before descending into 1,000 years of darkness unless it turns around really quickly. There is still time. When asked, what type of government we had in 1787 at the close of the Constitutional Convention Benjamin Franklin remarked, “A republic, if you can keep it.” Our republic is currently riddled with corruption that it has been recently accused of being a “oligarchy” and this cancer is pervasive as a kleptocrats pilfer the rotting scraps on our nation’s bones. We owe more money than any country in human history. On average, our countrymen have lost much physical vigor compared to their counterparts of the 1960s with the average man being 30 pounds heavier composed of most likely not muscle and are the most medicated our nation has ever been. Morality is dying with a miniscule population of morally upright, virtuous people. Civic virtue is gasping for air: In the Second World War, boys would try to get into war and many succeeded. Within a generation, legions of grown men would dodge their civic duties starting in Vietnam. Even the smallest things reflect our decline: the currency in circulation has very little intrinsic value.Continue reading“Preparedness in the New Golden Age or Grimy Age – Part 2, by Single Farmer”

SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

Our weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: 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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Reader Tim J. spotted this fascinating video, filmed in eastern Washington: Special Operations vet commutes by Flying Car from rural off-grid home. Here is a link to the ultralight maker’s website: Pivotal.  JWR’s Comment: Sadly, if heavier batteries are installed to allow longer range, this shifts this novel aircraft from the unlicensed Ultralight category to one of the licensed categories.

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Lily informed me of this news: Microsoft will end Skype in May, leaving some users upset.  JWR’s Comments:  Count me among the “upset” crowd about Skype going dark. I’m surprised that owners of Skype didn’t find a few better ways to monetize it. I have been using Skype with the majority of my consulting clients and family members for many years. I suppose that I’ll just switch to using Zoom, even though it is less secure. But I should mention that I also have a Wire subscription.  Wire is a much more secure videoconferencing system, provided by a company in Switzerland.  But that security comes with a fairly hefty annual subscription cost. ($280 per year, for a four-seat license.)  I use Wire with several of my High Net Worth Individual consulting clients, as well as with a few family members.

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Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“An almost hysterical antagonism toward the gold standard is one issue which unites statists of all persuasions. They seem to sense… that gold and economic freedom are inseparable.” – Alan Greenspan

Preparedness Notes for Tuesday — March 4, 2025

On March 4, 1756, the Scottish portrait painter Henry Raeburn was born in Edinburgh. He died in 1823. The image above is his portrait painting of Colonel Alasdair McDonnell of Glengarry, circa 1812.

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On March 4, 1782, Johann Rudolf Wyss, Swiss folklorist and writer (of Swiss Family Robinson fame), was born in Bern. (He died in 1830)

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On March 4, 1955, the first radio facsimile, or fax transmission, was sent across the continent.

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Today we present a guest article from a SurvivalBlog reader that is not part of the writing contest judging.

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We are seeking entries for Round 117 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $950,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest.  Round 117 ends on March 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. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic.

Preparedness in the New Golden Age or Grimy Age – Part 1, by Single Farmer

Editor’s Introductory Note: This young man is prayerfully seeking a wife. He is offering an after-marriage gift of up to $50,000 to whoever introduces him to his bride with $18,000 after their marriage and another $16,000 to the individual who provided the introduction after the first two births of healthy children born to him and his wife, for a total potential gift of $50,000. For further details, see this link to his article posted on February 24th, 2025: My Quest For a Wife.

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We find ourselves in a unique time which will be of great change. We can either make preparations to survive this time period like any other time or take whatever happens as it happens. Prepared people like to have options, so I am going to present to you a practical and historical case study of previous golden ages. I will bring you on a short historical journey to a few different golden ages along with some more difficult times, analyze the current situation, and provide some very practical ideas. I do hope that this journey will be profitable to you and that you will pass along any wisdom that you find to others. This is a very “future” piece, so please do not take anything I write as advice as this is only speculative. Consider this to be at best a “Gedankenexperiment” — a thought experiment — and I may be very wrong in my conclusions. It would be wonderful to be wrong and for us to be truly entering a golden age. Every day that we do not use our supplies eating from our pantries in peace and using our firearms for sport and recreation is a wonderful day. Please verify everything yourself and pray for the success of our country during this time.Continue reading“Preparedness in the New Golden Age or Grimy Age – Part 1, by Single Farmer”

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 located in the American Redoubt region that are of interest to preppers and survivalists. Today’s column has an emphasis on proposed and recently enacted legislation in the Redoubt states. The image above shows the interior of the Idaho state capitol building.

Idaho

Idaho Governor Signs School Choice Tax Credit Bill.

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Idaho legislation, by bill number.

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U-Haul driver arrested in drug bust, leads to multiple arrests at known drug house.

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

Preparedness Notes for Monday — March 3, 2025

On May 3, 1849, the Gold Coinage Act authorized $20 Double Eagle gold coin and the $1 Gold Liberty coin in the United States.

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Today is the birthday of bluegrass musician Doc Watson. (He was born in 1923 and passed away in 2012.) His guitar work was phenomenal.

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This is also the birthday of both Alexander Graham Bell and actor James Doohan, in 1920. He played Montgomery Scott in the Star Trek television series and films. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He passed away on July 20, 2005.

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A Newsletter Update: The March, 2025 edition of the SurvivalBlog Old School (S.O.S) newsletter has been completed and printed.  This issue is six pages long. Mailings should begin this week.  However, I ran out of envelopes!  So the mailings might not be completed until mid-March. (I now have another 1,000 envelopes on order.) Thanks for your patience. One minor note of clarification: Anyone who subscribed after March of 2024 will be getting copies of both the 6-page March 2025  issue and the 4-page March 2024 issue.

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Today’s feature article is a review written by our own Tom Christianson.