The Willie Sutton School of Economics

I have spent some time looking at hard assets. This is a capitulation for me because these assets are unproductive, defensive and generally of little use to anyone. Sure, they have some uses in catalytic converters, electrical connections and coins worth less than their mineral content but assets are mainly bets against productivity, the other side of the inflation coin. Inflation is a subtle tax on savings; assets usually escape --and sometimes grow. Worse, inflation harms the lender most: It freezes his holdings in a currency that shrinks, then repays him in a currency that has shrunk. No wonder there is limited credit; no one wants caught owed the Old Maid Dollar when the game stops.
Our huge debts will be paid or defaulted on--then paid. There is no escape. But the average guy will not pay it; it will be the saver, the guy with the vision to deprive himself of something in the near term to grow something for the long term. The guy who has believed in and contributed to the "system." Because that's where the money is. And his involuntary contributions to balance the excess--through the inflationary destruction of his savings--will make him a disillusioned and hostile man.