Tim are you writing for air heads. Simple explanations for financial structures are just going to delude people into thinking they know more than they do. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

I can't believe that Warren Buffet just came to realize that the U.S. government debt was not going to be repaid. He must have know this for decades. Maybe he just now started to think about it but it has been obvious for decades.

Regarding "There is only so far deposit insurance and bailouts from the government can go." Can you quantify this? Are you saying that government backed deposit insurance is going to default on their obligations? Are you saying that the Fed or the U.S. government can't bail out anyone they want to bail out? Care to put a number on the limit of the Fed or Congress' deep pocket.

Warren is right on both accounts, the government is not going to pay off its debt, it will carry debt for as long is it exists. You should own something that is not debt. Something with intrinsic value. Cash is debt but stocks are not, there an underlying value to most companies. Gold has intrinsic value but like stocks it probably much less than the current price. Real estate probably better. Lead, copper, silver, solar panels, whiskey,...probably would hold their value because they are worth at least the cost of making more.

TEK