What asset do you flee to when the world collapses?

THE idiocy - sorry, events - that befell the US government in the past few weeks have certainly made one think harder about the kind of asset that is safe to hold as a financial apocalypse looms.

US Treasuries look hopelessly inadequate, gold can't be eaten - and stronger people will take it from you anyway. Meanwhile, try convincing the chicken rice seller to take your Bitcoins as you fend off squatters from your multiple properties.

If the world is going to sink into a second Great Depression as the mightiest economy in recent history looks set to self-destruct (as was the case this week), you had better prepare for not just seven years of famine, but something closer to 17.