Scott said:

>By definition, only those holding hard assets (Gold, other commodities, Real
>Estate, Patented technology, Stocks which own a lot of gold, real Estate,
>Patents, etc...) benefit during inflationary times.

Yes for sure, if you're in runaway inflation, you want to possess real estate, gold and other tangibles. However tangibles can still be valuated (for a moment in time) in the inflating currency. Real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area is grossly overpriced, e.g. a modest 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom house can easily fetch $550,000. Almost anywhere else in America, this same home would be considered overpriced at $100,000. During an inflation, the relative dollar value of extremely overpriced real estate would go down by simply remaining at a fixed price while more fair valued real estate appreciated.

>P.S. the only thing which could cause hyper-inflation that you describe would
>be if the Fed suddenly started printing money. The American economy is too
>big for any other factor or series of factors to cause such extreem inflationary
>pressure.

As implied in my original e-mail, the problems of the enormous federal debt, the collapse of Social Security and Medicare could be politically whitewashed by deliberately inflating the currency. I foresee no honest solution to the federal debt crisis except through a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution which is probably impossible politically. The failure of Social Security and Medicare are virtually assured due to Baby Boomer demographics.

Gary