Duane and I met Survival Sam again for breakfast this morning at the Café 23 to have a go at the world’s problems, as well as our own.

            “Boy, there’s sure a lot of whining and moaning about the shape of the economy, isn’t there?” asked Duane.  “Some are preaching doom and gloom about 2008.  And I just saw a news story about a poll that said people are more concerned with personal economic issues than they are with Iraq or the war on terror.”

            “Yeah,” I said, “but the president says things are fundamentally sound.”

            “He's in good company.  The other day I was in my car on some errand for work and had the radio on to Dave Ramsey’s show about money,” said Duane.  “He says things are basically good, except for a few pockets where the housing market stinks.”

            “Someone on NPR the other day said we haven’t gotten anywhere near the bottom of the housing downturn yet,” Sam said.  “Apparently the construction industry has been hit pretty hard.  There’s a ripple effect throughout the economy as a whole.”

            “Ramsey says he hasn’t heard so much negativity in years,” said Duane.  “He tried putting a commonse sense view on things.  He says, for example, that people who are too broke to buy a house are still too broke to buy a house, and the subprime mortgage situation just proves the point.” 

            “Admittedly, there’s plenty of blame to go around on all sides,” Sam said.  “No doubt there are plenty who got duped into thinking they were going to live the American dream by taking shortcuts, and there were plenty of vultures waiting for them.”

            “Ramsey also said that credit card debt stories have gotten out of hand,” Duane said.  “He said excessive credit debt is nothing new.”

            “Perhaps not,” said Sam, “but when has it been this bad? The number of people falling behind on credit card payments is on the rise.”

            “Yeah, I don’t know what to think,” said Duane.  “I hear contradictions, but the evidence for big time problems seems to be growing.  I heard just the other day that some big box stores like Wal-Mart are going to wait and not put up new stores in such places as the suburbs of Chicago.  Wouldn’t you like to be a fly on the wall at the board meetings of some of these big stores?  I wonder what they know.”

            “I heard the news say the other day that Target had flat sales in December,” I said.

            "Of course," Sam said, "retailers are complaining mostly because sales didn't increase as much as they wanted, not because sales in all categories lost ground and went into negative territory."

           “Yeah,” said Duane, “That's an important distinction.  Nonetheless, retailers aren’t happy, and then there’s the stock market which can’t figure out which way it wants to go.”

            “Don’t forget about the sinking dollar and the rise of gold prices,” Sam said.  “I saw a headline a few weeks back that said, ‘Gold’s Rise Goes Beyond the Dollar’s Demise.’  The emphasis of the article, which included graphs and charts, is that money is being printed like crazy all over the world.  Thus, it’s not just the dollar that’s losing value.  Other currencies aren’t in the best of shape either.” 

            “What does that mean?” I asked.

            “Presumably this means we’ll be seeing inflation everywhere,” said Sam.

            “This isn’t going to turn into a pitch for buying gold, is it, Sam?” asked Duane.. 

            “No,” Sam said.  “However, many are saying there’s a bull market for gold and other metals now.”

            “Well, I can’t afford any of it,” said Duane.

            “I’m worried about those people who read my blog who can’t afford to buy much of anything,” I said.

            “The beauty of the Internet, John,” said Sam, “is that people who are able to buy survival supplies and gear are out there looking for it online and will find your blog.  You’re directing them to merchants who have what they need.  You’ve got things to offer for those who truly can’t afford much, too.  Don’t forget about Living on a Dime, listed on your blog's right column, since they have  e-books on saving money.”

            “Good point,” I said.

            “What do you suggest people do to face all these downward trends we’ve been talking about?” asked Duane.

            “My suggestion,” said Sam, “as I’ve said before, is to buy hard goods that will be of benefit to you and your family for both now and in the future.  Use your dollars, whatever they’re worth today, and make investments in things like storage food, and a water filtration system.  One place to get both is Nitro-Pak, which has a banner to click on at the bottom of your blog page.  While there on that part of the page, click on Gaiam's banner and buy the best rechargeable batteries and battery chargers.  Such things have a long shelf life and will be worth something to you no matter what the markets are doing.  Remember that some items will be good for bartering.  After all, you can’t eat gold.  Having hard goods is like having money in the bank—or what it used to be like having money in the bank.”