So if the FDIC money will be worthless, any dollars tucked away in a matress will also be devalued, stocks are usually sucker bets without inside info, gold is already so high and I'm not sure a nation of people standing in FEMA soup lines will be interested in a pretty metal they can't eat... so what sugestions do you have?
the truest free market may involve bartering. Some useful items that may be in demand: batteries, small propane tanks, soap, seed packets, spikes, sharpening stones, lantern mantles, extra butane lighters, extra flashlight bulbs, aspirin, etc. I am sure there are things around your house that would be useful if normal commerce shut down. I would inventory and place them together in one location ahead of time, so that I could grab them in a hurry. Call it your hope chest. Hope you never have to use it. You may not have time to search for something you know you have, but forgot where you put it.