Jim, I did not advocate swaptions or any such gimmicky stuff.  The fact that these guys were unable/unwilling for so many years to see that inflation had gotten out of hand, in and of itself says a lot about their competence and integrity.  So there.

 However, the reality is that TIPS do not measure  the actual inflationary impact on the day-to-day lives and expenditures of most Americans.  I would say a diversified portfolio of some foreign currencies and/or bonds, together with commodities funds, plus gold and silver bullion would be a good alternative.  I don't like the swaptions route at all.

-d