Not all Survivalists are Mad Loners

Barton M Biggs is the former chief global strategist for Morgan Stanley, and he now runs the hedge fund Traxis Partners based in New York. So you'd think that he is neither mad nor is he a loner. So it is a refreshing surpise to find out that his new book, Wealth, War and Wisdom, advocates building a safe haven which is "self-sufficient and capable of growing some kind of food".

"I'm just suggesting," says Mr Biggs, "that if you can afford it you should invest in a bolthole. A farm, perhaps, where you could live for a month and survive."

"I am talking Swiss Family Robinson," he says, referring to the famous 1812 novel about a Swiss family that survives after being shipwrecked in the East Indies. "You should have food, water, medicine, clothes. And possibly AK47s to fire over the heads of any guys, depending on how bad things become."

He cites war, food shortage & flu pandemic as just some of the reasons for setting up a safe spot.

The article at the BBC finds other mon-mad people with similar survival ideas. For whatever reason, regular folk are sensing a need to prepare like never before.

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