 No Gold, No Bullets:
Now It's Personal
John Rubino
Jun 23, 2009
Facts have a different feel
when they're personal. And speaking personally, evidence that
Americans are seriously spooked is starting to pile up. In the
past few months:
While researching a magazine
article on offshore investing I interviewed Erika Nolan, executive
director of the Sovereign Society, a Florida-based consultancy.
She noted that her client base is changing: "Historically,
offshore solutions have been reserved for very high net worth
individuals. But starting in about 2001 we started to see people
in the 'mid-tier millionaire' stream -- $1 million to $30 million
net worth -- saying 'I've worked really hard, I don't want to
have my assets at risk.' Most recently we've been seeing a big
demand from Americans saying 'I just want to put $100,000 or
$500,000 offshore. I'm reporting it; it has nothing to do with
taxes.' It's just asset safety at this point."
My father-in-law decided he
wanted some gold, so I called a local coin store and asked Kevin,
the shop's owner, to find us some Krugerrands. He predicted a
few weeks for delivery, which seemed reasonable given the chatter
about tight supplies, so I placed an order and wrote a big
check. That was three months ago, and the coins still aren't
in. I called Kevin the other day and found him both busy and
frustrated. "I could make a million dollars this year if
I could only get inventory," he said. "This would be
a career year." He apologized for the long wait and said
there were now only a few people ahead of us on the list.
I checked in with a friend,
a business owner and semi-professional poker player just back
from a Seattle gambling trip. But instead of talking poker or
kids we toured his stash of freeze-dried food and his growing
arsenal that includes a Dirty Harry-style 44 magnum pistol and
a very cool black pump-action shotgun. This guy is well-educated,
well-traveled, and well-off, and he's preparing to blow away
looters from his bedroom window.
My 11-year-old son Alex and
I stopped by a local gun store. This is going to be a "skills
acquisition" summer in which we learn to ride horses, handle
guns, and change a bike flat (and when I finally learn to Salsa)
so we had some general questions for Charles, the gun shop owner,
about gun safety classes and which rifle is the best starter
model. Charles said our selection was limited: It seems that
there's a run on ammo, and he can't guarantee anything more than
low-velocity 22 caliber bullets. When we got home I did a quick
Google search for "bullet shortage" and sure enough,
that market looks just like those for gold and silver coins,
with demand swamping supply, long waiting lists, and panicky
hoarding.
It's no secret, of course,
that small-denomination bullion is hard to come by and gun
sales are way up, but finding out first-hand that this stuff
is unavailable brings home the reality of the situation, which
is that the social mood is growing darker. On the surface everything
looks normal; no one is protesting in the streets, the trash
is getting picked up, and elections are as orderly as ever. But
the market is quietly reallocating resources as individuals insure
against a systemic breakdown.
Hope those Krugerrands come
soon.
 Buy
Offshore Gold and Silver at GoldMoney.
John Rubino
email: emanager@dollarcollapse.com
website: Dollar
Collapse
321gold Ltd
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