[quote=CA renter]the future is (most likely, IMHO) deflation. Our money is almost all in cash right now, so am putting my money where my mouth is.[/quote]
I tend to agree on deflation at least in the short term. I disagree that deflation is preferable to inflation, since this assumes that the cash you hold becomes more valuable each day, but that cash is only good if everyone agrees it is good.
I believe and easy math proves that without massive wage inflation to make up for the huge leveraging which has occurred in the last 25 years, virtually ALL debt currently held will default.
As the debt defaults, those defaulting are effectively taken out of the financial system and those defaulted on are effectively also placed in a position of default and then taken out of the financial system in a very destructive manner.
With each default, things go from worse to even worse and I believe we are already circling a black hole of debt, which will eventually destroy our currency and collapse the worldwide economic system, which depends on ever increasing debt.
It is my position that inflation occurred in the past when money which cannot be repaid was loaned out of thin air into existence. Now we get to choose the form of the destructor (Ghost Busters)