Richard Maybury, President of Henry Madison Research, writes a very popular investment newsletter, “Early Warning Report Newsletter for Investors.” His track record for predicting the ever-changing economy is impressive. Proving that junk mail can provide some useful bits of information, I read the transcript of an interview of Mr. Maybury by Resource Consultants, Inc. of Tempe, Arizona. The interview was published in a sales letter soliciting subscribers for Mr. Maybury’s newsletter.

In the interview, Mr. Maybury discusses the background causes and possible future direction of the “War on Terrorism.” It is his opinion that the war was caused by foreign aid. He points out how, during the Cold War, Washington supplied “weapons, money, military training and other forms of assistance” to nearly any government that claimed to be pro-US. Unfortunately, corrupt politicrats do not easily give up their empires. When the Cold War ended, the U.S. found itself to be the world’s only superpower. They continued to send aid to nearly any regime that claimed to support the Empire. “Today,” Maybury claims, “they [U.S. government] supply weapons, money, and so forth to at least 114 governments,” of which “94 of these regimes are crooks and tyrants. These 94 crooks and tyrants hurt millions of innocent people, which means they have millions of enemies, so now these enemies are our enemies.” It is not difficult to list numerous examples of who these enemies now are.

Mr. Maybury goes on to discuss the probable economic effects of this war; not surprisingly, one being inflation, owing to the prospects that the war “promises to be big and long.” He forecasts that the most important economic force in the conflict, however, will be nuclear weapons. “A CIA report on the security of the Russian nuclear arsenal stated, ‘Weapons grade and weapons-usable nuclear materials have been stolen from Russian institutes.’ Reports surfaced that the U.S. government has deployed sensors around Washington and at other choke points that attempt to detect a nuclear weapon before it is detonated.” Maybury believes that there is an 85% probability that a nuclear detonation will occur. “Washington will be blown away,” he predicts.

Despite the post-September 11th creation of an underground bunkered shadow government known officially as the “Continuity of Government Plan” (COG), for all intents and purposes, a nuclear detonation in the capital “would be game over.” However, Maybury offers hope: “Game over for the government, not for the rest of us.” How can this be? Mr. Maybury helps to refresh our knowledge of American history by reminding us that preceding the U.S. Constitution adopted in 1787, our ruling document was the 1777 Articles of Confederation, where America had no central government at all. “I believe that when the federal government is blown away, we will simply return to the Articles of Confederation.” Maybury predicts a year or two of economic turmoil would follow such a catastrophic event (no kidding) but, “in the grand scheme of things, the demise of the federal government won’t amount to much.” Huh? “Governments come and go. France has had five since 1830. As long as you are not in DC the day of the big blast, and you are prepared to ride through the year or two of economic turmoil, it will not be a big deal for you.” Mr. Maybury goes on to explain how any attempt by COG to set up a new federal government will be thwarted, as “that one will be blown away, too.” We can only pray that it would be that easy.

Lew Rockwell published a fine column earlier this year of what a post-nuked Washington America would look like: “The first thing that would happen is that your personal income would rise equal to the 40 percent you currently pay Washington in taxes. Because there would be nowhere to actually send the checks--excise taxes, income taxes, and payroll taxes would be meaningless.” Mr. Rockwell goes on to detail how there would be no one to initiate and continue meddling in other countries' affairs and no one to enforce idiotic laws hostile to freedom (e.g.,  Americans With Disabilities and Civil Rights Acts). Tariffs and trade quotas would become impotent, giving us lower prices on food and energy not witnessed by most now living. Special interest groups would no longer have the hammer of the law to implement their depraved agendas in the field of education and elsewhere. Businesses would be free of the shackles of anti-trust laws, the welfare state would crumble, etc.

Mr. Rockwell sees a major problem arising when COG attempts to carry on the government’s “business” during such an apocalyptic time: “How can the shadow government be sure that people will obey? After all, we don’t immediately bow down to some guy who claims to be a GS-14. We would be faced with an odd situation of 100 guys suddenly announcing to us: ‘We’re from the shadow government and we’re here to help you.’" Richard Maybury foresees a new government as weak and helpless with no option remaining but to “surrender and go out of business.”

Maybury invites his readers to take the “long view” of what initially would be a grim situation: “Governments come and go. On average, the government of France is destroyed every 40 years, and France is still there, and quite prosperous; why would America be any different?” Using the fact that at least 170 million people were slaughtered by governments during the 20th century, he encourages one to keep things in perspective. He is convinced that if Washington is destroyed or paralyzed, in the long run, it would be a near historical irrelevance: “In 1943, the city of Stalingrad was completely destroyed. How many people today know about that? Or care? It was a big deal when it happened--the turning point in the most colossal war in history--but the city was rebuilt and life went back to normal. When it happened, it was an earthshaking development, but today I am sure not one person in a thousand can tell you why Stalingrad was so important, or even where it was.”

Despite the uncertainties that would exist in a post-nuked-Washington world, Maybury is optimistic. He is confident that with a return to the Articles of Confederation, along with the fact that the taxpayers would no longer be saddled with having to support the American Empire, life would return to the way it was pre-911, “except that it would be better.”

Mr. Maybury offers some general tips to protect yourself and your investments that I won’t go into here. More detailed information can be found in his newsletter. It’s safe to say that the best common sense advice offered by him for preparing for such a catastrophic event is this: “Don’t ever let anyone tell you history is irrelevant.

Roger Young