Sooner or later, the "answer" some of these governments arrive at is going to be to either default on existing debts or print the necessary money.
Either way, the value of the currencies plunge. Those who see this coming will shift their wealth into things that do a better job of preserving wealth. We can debate whether gold falls into that category, but hardly whether fiat money is going to be a big let down for those who hold onto it.
Now... for those who don't believe gold will be in great demand when fiat currencies collapse... I challenge you to come up with and defend the reasoning for better alternatives. I can think of several things that might qualify: Land, fine art, certain tools and equipment, and certain businesses (you could hardly go wrong by learning how to do electrical work at the Master Electrician's level, for instance.)
But, what else? Not food. It's too hard to preserve in quantity. Not fuel, unless you can buy a functioning well or coal-mine. It's too hard to STORE fuel in quantity. The same flaw applies to guns (but maybe not ammo. It really isn't that hard to store a few hundred thousand dollars worth of ammunition.)
*MOST* things you might first think of are difficult ways to preserve your actual WEALTH.
Even the examples I gave have problems. Land - is not portable and cannot be traded for small items such as bread. The same flaw applies to fine art. But art is also vulnerable to damage and cannot easily be stored in a safe location. Tools and equipemnt? They might be good choices if your wealth is less than $100,000. Above that . . . and, again, where are you going to store it?
I keep coming back to BUSINESSES (meaning SKILLS) and PM... as probably the two best ways to preserve wealth long term. Neither is easily destroyed (although PM COULD turn radioactive if nuclear war is what the investor is trying to protect himself against, and SKILL dies with the bearer); both are easy to store; both are easy to hide; both can be bartered for either small items or large; both are difficult to counterfeit as long as holders are reasonably intelligent; both are portable.
What better alternatives exist?
| 
