Despite what we’ve heard from our benevolent leaders, we don’t think this economic crisis is over, and neither does famed investor Jim Rogers:

Rogers said he started buying dollars last year in October and November “because everybody, including me, was bearish.”

“I hope it’s a short- or medium-term position,” he added.

He said he has not bought shares since November 2008, focusing on commodities instead.

“I think that real assets are the best place to protect yourself going forward,” he told “Worldwide Exchange.”

“I had had no shorts for about 15 months so I started putting out some shorts recently,” Rogers said. “But the fact that I’ve been putting out shorts means (the stock market) won’t pull back,” he joked.

He said many investors were skeptical about the stock market’s rally.

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Rogers stood by his prediction that gold prices are likely to reach $2,000 per ounce in the next 10 years, because of “many things, especially the debasement of currencies around the world. It’s a simple statement that gold will go up by 6-7 percent a year in the next 10 years.”

Oil is another commodity to watch as the world is running out of known supplies, while cotton is 70 percent below its all-time high and sugar is 80 percent below, he said.

A bubble in commodities is likely to form, but probably not before 2019, according to Rogers.

As for the US economy, the housing sector is likely to stay around the bottom for a while as there is a lot of excess inventory, he warned. Another recession may hit over the next few years and problems would be much worse, he said.

“Yes we’re going to have another recession, I guarantee you. Certainly by 2012 say, it’s time for another recession,” Rogers said.

“Next time it’s going to be worse because we’ve shot all our bullets.”

It’s going to hit the fan, and there is no amount of machinations that will stop it. Global governments and financial institutions have used up most of their magic tricks and the show is almost over. But, like any good magician, they may yet pull something out of their hat, so timing something like this is quite difficult for those that are not ‘in the know.’

To survive and prosper in the hard times ahead, focus on hard assets, either by purchasing commodity related investments via the stock market or holding your own commodity stores at home.

When inflation finally kicks in, be it this year or five years from now, an investment in hard assets will pay off multi-fold. And, if you hold your own commodities (rice, grains, legumes, precious metals) in your physical possession, you have no counter party risk.