It's time to plan for economic disaster

[AtW]

The same amount of money that existed pre 2008 exists now.

There is more money now you idiot.

[alreadypacked]

Having thought and read all I can about what's happening, I believe that we are sitting on a bomb whose fuse has been lit. There is nothing anyone can realistically do to extinguish this fuse.
I really hope I am wrong but I think it is time to plan for the worst while hoping for the best.
Options are:
(1) Having loads of cash in non-European currency (but not Yen) and a non-European bank - I think US dollars are safe enough for the present.
(2) Gold, but you must make sure it's real gold and not gold options

That will do for now. I shall make it so.

(1) Check . . . SFR
(2) see (1)

[TimCaprica]

There is more money now you idiot.

No there is less money now: Bank of England | Statistics | Provisional estimates of broad money (M4) | September 2010

The banks deleveraging is more than offsetting all the extra money being printed*, which might be why we haven't had any nuts domesticly generated inflation (just an unhealthy amount of imported inflation).

The price of gold scares me. US debt scares me. Buy Tesco!

* Lend something to Mr A. Have an asset on your balance sheet representing what Mr A owes you. Borrow more money against that asset, lend it out to Mr B. Repeat. repeat. repeat. At some point this results in more money (apparently).

[Paddy]

There is more money now you idiot.

Yes I know that, but it does depend on which measurement one uses. I was keeping it simple so jumped up Siberian beetroot pickers would understand. BTW why did you leave Russia in 1998 at the time that anyone with a brain was making a fortune there?

[OwlHoot]

Beans, vitamins, flour, cereal, dried milk, iodine, ak47.

Most canned goods are okay as they've already been cooked. Rice might be a PITA on the cooking front.

You'd be barking mad to try cooking or boiling anything in a nuclear bomb shelter, unless it was the size of St Pauls.

The heat and humidity from the occupants' bodies would be appalling and life threatening enough as it was without gas burners adding to it.

[Churchill]

Having thought and read all I can about what's happening, I believe that we are sitting on a bomb whose fuse has been lit. There is nothing anyone can realistically do to extinguish this fuse.
I really hope I am wrong but I think it is time to plan for the worst while hoping for the best.
Options are:
(1) Having loads of cash in non-European currency (but not Yen) and a non-European bank - I think US dollars are safe enough for the present.
(2) Gold, but you must make sure it's real gold and not gold options

That will do for now. I shall make it so.

I disagree.

All a storm in a teacup.

Move along, nothing to see here.

[sasguru]

The problem is that I'm beginning to understand that no European country is safe, not even Germany and especially not Switzerland.
German banks went mad in boom times and overexposed themselves to all sorts of debt- Swiss banks are badly run and did the same.
When the sovereigns default, notice I say when not if, these banks will fall like dominoes.
Germany may be able to bail out its banks, but will have no money for anyone else.

I am planning for a Great Depression while hoping it won't happen.

My preferred option in such a scenario is to go live in a cheap 3rd world tropical paradise for the 10 years or so it will take to sort out.

[MarillionFan]

The problem is that I'm beginning to understand that no European country is safe, not even Germany and especially not Switzerland.
German banks went mad in boom times and overexposed themselves to all sorts of debt- Swiss banks are badly run and did the same.
When the sovereigns default, notice I say when not if, these banks will fall like dominoes.
Germany may be able to bail out its banks, but will have no money for anyone else.

I am planning for a Great Depression while hoping it won't happen.

My preferred option in such a scenario is to go live in a cheap 3rd world tropical paradise for the 10 years or so it will take to sort out.

Stay here. The UK will be a 3rd world country in 10 years and global warming is going to make Dartmoor beach front land.

[OwlHoot]

I was keeping it simple so jumped up Siberian beetroot pickers would understand. BTW why did you leave Russia in 1998 at the time that anyone with a brain was making a fortune there?

(although in fairness my impression is they needed a brain and a brace of AK47s )

[TimberWolf]

You'd be barking mad to try cooking or boiling anything in a nuclear bomb shelter, unless it was the size of St Pauls.

The heat and humidity from the occupants' bodies would be appalling and life threatening enough as it was without gas burners adding to it.

That's why I left rice out. You'd give yourself terrible tooth erosion eating that stuff raw.