What are good investments for a "Great Depression"?

mogwai

Gold goes up in value during recessions - when currencies devalue people opt out of cash as savings and start investing in precious metals. Gold has also gone up in value year on year and if you had invested in gold a few years back you would have made a tidy profit.

Their value certainly doesnt always plummet in a recession, as the last 20 odd years have shown.

Monsternextdoor

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Companies trading in;

Alcohol.

Tobacco.

Weapons.


Poverty always results in increased addiction and eventually some intercountry punch up or another.

Same, also I would buy up cloth because clothes will become luxuries, seeds, tinned goods and pretty much anything you can barter with as money will be worthless.

Would also look into metals as well as anything that can be used in the making of weapons/ammo will go up in value.

simmed

mogwai wrote: »

Gold goes up in value during recessions - when currencies devalue people opt out of cash as savings and start investing in precious metals. Gold has also gone up in value year on year and if you had invested in gold a few years back you would have made a tidy profit.

Their value certainly doesnt always plummet in a recession, as the last 20 odd years have shown.

Wish people who don't understand the meaning of value would stop blabbing on about gold

Does it have any practical use? NO. Gold is essentially a currency - it has no intrinsic value, only what others place on it.

Good luck eating your gold when you have no food (and nobody wants your gold because it's useless)

MrBeans

Gold is a store of value. Over the long term its value remains roughly constant. One gold sovereign bought you a nice suit in 1880 and 1980 and probably will do in 2080. Gold is a hedge against inflation (ie paper money losing its value) not a hedge against depression. It is possible to have deflation and depression at the same time (see Japan) in which case holding paper money can be better than holding gold.

If you want a financial investment for a depression that gives you an income, ask yourself what will people keep buying however long and deep the depression is. Food? Electricity? Water? Buy Aldi, SSE, United Utilities shares?

But if you're predicting total economic meltdown, where banks go bust, paper money loses its value and Governments can't pay pensions and benefits, yes, stock up on tinned food, candles, firewood and lots of small gold coins. There will always be somebody who will sell you a loaf of bread for a bit of gold.

mogwai

simmed wrote: »

Wish people who don't understand the meaning of value would stop blabbing on about gold

How rude - don't ask for opinions if you can't take any differing ones.

So while gold is essentially a currency, it has no practical use?

And btw - food and water don't count as 'investments'. Investment is something which you expect will yield some kind of return - food and water doesnt. You are talking about what people stockpile.

Go back to school, or wherever it was you learnt about basic economics.

Butterfly_Brain

I have been researching the great depression and have thought of a few more essential items, in addition to the ones that I have already posted.

• Shelter such as a caravan or tent for if anyone is evicted from their homes God forbid, but people were thrown onto the streets in their millions in the depression.
• Warm blankets, sleeping bags and pillows
• A dutch pot, cobb cooker or something similar for warming meals
• A kelly kettle
• Solar shower
• Warm clothing, thermal underwear, coats, spare shoes etc

simmed

For those still talking about gold (Beans, Mogwai), I already said in the OP that I'm not interested in those replies. If you want to talk about precious metals then please make your own thread

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

I have been researching the great depression and have thought of a few more essential items, in addition to the ones that I have already posted.

• Shelter such as a caravan or tent for if anyone is evicted from their homes God forbid, but people were thrown onto the streets in their millions in the depression.
• Warm blankets, sleeping bags and pillows
• A dutch pot, cobb cooker or something similar for warming meals
• A kelly kettle
• Solar shower
• Warm clothing, thermal underwear, coats, spare shoes etc

Great ideas.. on the subject of pots, what about investing in pressure cookers? I think they are the most heat efficient way to cook things (not much heat loss, fast cook time).

zcrat41

But simmed - an Investment is normally something you expect a return on and things like gold/land are seen as safe havens in times of economic disruption.

You mean much more what would people stockpile I think.

nuatha

simmed wrote: »

Imagine you lived in 1925 and knew the Great Depression was coming. What would you buy as investments?

Now imagine you live in 2012 (difficult I know) and believe another large scale depression is overdue. What do you buy as investments?

Knowledge, skills and tools. Exactly what directions these take depends on personal aptitudes and interests. In my case the grow, cook and preserve food, making furniture (and the same skills rebuilt a wooden bungalow) basic car maintenance are all skills that are useful and likely to be more useful in another Great Depression, whereas my professional IT skills will either be worthless or very valuable, depending on how the depression goes.

simmed

e.g. the Great Depression

What physical things went up in value? Obviously things like food and water, what else?