It was obvious to any casual observer that debate about whether the US was in, or approaching a recession, was increasing.
According to a January article in The Economist “[in] recent opinion polls, almost six out of ten Americans believe the country is already in a recession.”

And the media are increasingly willing to confront the situation head on. CNN Money this week featured John Williams of shadowstats.com who stated:

“We have a severe recession ahead of us, with even higher inflation … probably the worst business cycle seen since the great depression.”

His advice?

“You want to be liquid, you want to be safe, and I would hold a little bit of gold as a hedge against inflation.”