The non-news-media economists like Michael Hudson and other well-known ones whose names escape me right now, have been using the D-word for quite a while.

Two or three years ago, it was said that if even four relatively small countries defaulted on their debts, it would be the beginning of the death spiral of economic collapse, just like pulling the plug in a bathtub. You know what's going on with Greece, but Portugal, Venezuela, Ireland, Ukraine, Lebanon, Croatia, Vietnam, Spain, Hungary and Romania are wobbling financially. And the U.S. isn't in good shape, either.

The whole thing scares me to death, truly!

Like the others above, I would say that what you would need then are the basics of what you use now. No frou-frou, just the basics.

Shelter. People who own their home outright are ahead of the game. If you have to move in with someone else, make yourself indispensable. If homes become vacant, I would be tempted to move into one that would be easiest to heat or insulate. Gypsies have very comfy wagons for homes.

Water. Collect rainwater. Make sure you have the materials to do so. It's cleaner than any groundwater if the collector surface and where you store it are clean, and you shouldn't have to treat it. You have to store it for the dry periods.

Food. Keep it basic simple. Dried beans rather than canned (tinned) beans. The last major U.S. depression lasted 14 years, and no one stores that much food! If you can grow your own, you'll have to know how, and have the means, to process and preserve it. Collect seeds. Collect gardening books.

Medical supplies. Collect the basics if you can. A few good herbal books might be useful.

Fuel. I would think that this is most likely to be wood (all collected and cut/split by hand), coal and homemade alcohol. If you can live in a well-insulated place, it would reduce the amount of fuel you would need for heating.

Look around at everything you use, and ask yourself how you would do it without power. Disposable and short-term use won't fly. Tools will be difficult to get.

I think it's all going to get really ugly.

Sue