It's now 2 years after the Western Banking system went Bankrupt and the consequences have yet to be really felt after the Federal Reserve soaked up all the toxic with its multi-trillion unaudited off balance sheet activities.

Currency wars, corruption, ignoring the rule of law when it suits those involved in huge fraud and greed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQDvgKlzmlA

How do we prepare for the consequences of the trickle down effect of financial 'Without Rule of Law' or WRL in a post Enronomics world.

In answer to your question, attempting to be as self-reliant as possible and to have a diversified savings/investment with one’s personal finances would seem the most logical approach. I would caution that this topic has the potential of becoming very political very quickly and suggest that we keep the responses to general individual/personal financial stability.

Pete

Figure out a strategy for bartering.

So who is this guy and what do you know about him? (Keiser).

I gotta admit I am a bit skeptical about talking heads on TV.....

First, don't try to get real information from Youtube. The S/N ratio is inversely proportional to the viewability and entertainment value.

Second, if your going to try to understand a system you have to study the entire system. Point-of-fact is that classical economics starts to fail at the edges as soon as you get a operation bigger than a lemonade stand. When the system is large enough to print money, essentially outside the supply-demand structure, the materiality of the structure goes out the window. Money is not a commodity so bankruptcy is a useless concept. Think of it as a measure of confidence independent of materiality.

In this system there is no "gold", real metal or otherwise, to steal. It might be useful to think of a US dollar as being a betting slip. A slip that registers a bet that the US will remain a viable economic entity and that there will be something you might wish to buy in the US system.

If you have low confidence in the issuing national economic structure, and/or there is little reason to believe you will be doing business in a market that demands the currency it will have little value. The US dollar has a a lot of utility because many things, oil being the best known commodity, are priced in US dollars and there are hundreds of trillions in circulation in paper or virtual form. The mint can issue trillions in currency without changing the overall value because the issue is small in proportion to the overall quantity.

References to post-WWI Germany and Zimbabwe are useless because neither of those currencies were used to price anything important or used as the defacto reference currency. In effect the US dollar is the water all other currencies swim in. Don't confuse pricing with confidence. A British pound is worth more than a dollar but while the pound is important it is not the reference currency nor anywhere near as important as the US dollar.

I think Pete's suggestion of becoming as self-sufficient as possible is the only way.

The main problem is that with all the international fingers in the pie, we can't really anticipate how it's all going to unfold, which facet is going to fall first, second, third, etc.

Sue

Well I guess Plan A - Steal the Oil; didn't work out to well.

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/collapse/





But how to convince the other 99% out there, without sounding like this fellow in the film 'Collapse'. The other 99% out there will be in a state of denial. There has always been a tendency to shoot the messenger.

All ready the street lights in the UK are starting to be turned off.

You will never be able to convince the other 99% of ANYTHING.

People tend to be the way they are due to their life experiences. A good many people have lived their lives very heavily dependent on others, and now you want them to not only think for themselves, but take the initiative to plan for what is likely to be a very ugly future?

It's not going to happen. Just do what you can for you and yours.

Sue

Has anyone Alerted,Dr.Who?

I prefer the term "beer coupon."

I'll use the $ until it wont buy anything anymore. That day aint far off, in my opinion. I also have gold coins, but not all that many, cause I'd rather be making 40% per year (after tax and ss) with the money. That can be done, year in and year out, by investing 100k at a time, in a used 18 wheeler with a "reefer" trailer, by the way. Now, in the last 6 years, gold has gone up from $450 an oz to over $1300 an oz, so if you weren't making the sort of money I make on your investments, you lost out, big time. The trick is in getting a team of drivers who will be dedicated to the job, for 50k a year less than typical drivers. That can be done. The rig goes for 60k or so, with 1/5 million miles on it. You'll be putting 1/4 million miles a year on it, so it will need repairs every year or so.

I agree. Also, inflation (or whatever you call it) is slow enough such that people don't notice it relative to other traumatic events in their lives. As an example, it's not uncommon for a mid-level lawyer in the Bay Area to be living with a roommate in an apartment or condo. (I'm sure this wasn't the case 25 years ago.) Most pre-law students are not thinking about that type of lifestyle when they're applying to law school. They're still thinking they'll have the nice big house with a pool and two Mercedes in the garage. The inflation is subtle enough such that the masses are not in an uproar.

Well, maybe not "lemonade stand" but yes, the connection to physical wealth quickly fails when you consider most economies. When you first learn about the reality of money - especially fiat currency - it can be disorienting because it's just not something that works at an individual level. Well, sometimes it does.

Real world example: a partner in an ad agency decided they want to exit the company. They want to get paid their share of the company value. How much is the company worth? Do you add up the value of all the desks, computers and light fixtures? Do you add in all the money in the bank? Do you add in outstanding invoices? No, none of these. You value the company at a multiple of earnings. So if the company earned 20 million dollars, the valuation is from 6 to 9 times that. Why? Because that's what you agree it's worth...so it's worth 120 to 180 million dollars. The executive takes their payout based the valuation they agree to, and thats it. The 100 million dollars of valuation over the 20 million in earnings don't exist - but they are real enough to force the company to cut a check or take on a debt obligation to the departing executive for, say, 5 million dollars, based on the severance settlement.