Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

I was at the bank the other day and the teller commented to me that they had a new program with accounts that offered a whopping 1.75% interest. Now, assuming that inflation is running at a rate higher than 1.75%, which it assuredly is, the only possible thing this savings account can offer is a slightly offset level of devaluation. In short, if I stick $100 in my safe, at the end of the year it’s worth $96. In the aforementioned account it may be worth $98. (Or something similar, my math skills….not so good.)

If I actually had any money, I’d be putting it into durable goods and into a form that would hold its value against an inflation of currency. The Weimar Strategy, I suppose.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

‘Tis spring here in western Montana. Sure, it still gets cold and theres the infrequent snow squall but, by and large, winter is pretty much a done deal. Time for spring cleaning, getting the yard neatened up, looking for seasonal sales on things and generally getting things in order.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Its worth noting that the newswires are reporting cases of human-to-human transmission of bird flu. (Remember bird flu? Was all the rage a few years ago.) The articles Ive read so far state that In China, which is having ‘regular’ outbreaks, cases are reported of family members infecting other family members. The article suggests that thus far its human-to-human when both humans have similar genetic makeup (siblings to siblings, parents to children, etc.) Im sure from there its just a matter of random mutation until it jumps from infected stranger to infected stranger. My personal perception of it as a threat to us? Pretty low. Somewhere above ‘Yellowstone volcano’ but below ‘new Depression’. Certainly, an outbreak in someplace like NY or Chicago or Vancouver would have some repercussions here but I don’t believe they’d be anything like the photos you see from the old 1918 influenza days with police in surgical masks, public gatherings prohibited and quarantine notices tacked on buildings. ‘Omega Man’ it wont be. Not in my neck of the woods anyway….you guys in the major population centers are on your own.