Will Europe Survive?

[dai bread]

I've thought for years that liberal intellectuals would sink Western civilisation. Now you know what I'm getting at.

[Giant Communist Robot]

The EU still has no solution. I wonder if they view the U.S. the same way?

[Haggis@wk]

WHAT HYPERINFLATION looks like today.

“All meat has gone to Russia.”

Plus this:

“If only these people had known in advance what happens when a deranged Keynesian madman is in charge of it all… Oh well, they will learn now.”

Good thing that can’t happen here. Stupid foreigners. When will they learn?

[dai bread]

Belarus will allow the ruble to float from mid-September and will remove restrictions on depositors seeking to exchange local currency for dollars and euros, Lukashenko said yesterday.



“The Belarusian ruble’s exchange rate will be determined by supply and demand, as with any other commodity,” he told the government and central bank, according to the Belta news service. “We will not support the exchange rate artificially.”

What happens then is simple: revolution, as the currency will collapse into a hyperinflationary vortex. We fully expect the exchange rate a year from today to be several million percent higher, as the ghost of Weimar and all other failed Keynesian experiments moves in to haunt this former Soviet satellite country.

That didn't happen here, when we floated our currency in the late '80s. Of course, different circumstances prevailed in world finances then, and we're not surrounded by neighbours with much stronger currencies. We still get people doing business here because we're cheap (e.g. boatbuilding) and good, but nothing like this article describes.

[Giant Communist Robot]

as the ghost of Weimar and all other failed Keynesian experiments

Well, I don't like to quibble too much, but when people use facts to back up their arguments they should check to see if they're right. Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic was over by 1923; Keynes, while influential, didn't write his big book detailing his thoughts until 1936. I've seen Georg Knapp's name connected to the Weimar monetary policies. Keynes had warned the Treaty of Versailles was a catastrophe for Germany.

Reparations were certainly the problem for Weimar, as they had to be paid in gold Marks. A floating currency would have made it easier.

[Haggis@wk]

SHOCKER: Senior IMF Economist Expects Hard Default For Greece. Soon.

[Giant Communist Robot]

I don't doubt that Greece could default real soon, but an article based on an unidentified source is a rumor.

[Giant Communist Robot]

On a site like Business Insider, which does have insiders, an unsourced "opinion" from "an unidentified important person" could be a shill.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Ooookay. It seems that they've all gone nuts. Or maybe they have slipped definitions? 38% of Europe is crazy?

38% of Europeans are mentally ill

[Giant Communist Robot]

The German economy is all about exports, and most of that stays in the EU. What I sort of see is Germany funding the PIIGS so they can buy German products. This scenario runs contrary to a EU breakup. Even so, while it's important for Germany to run big trade surpluses, the stories I read coming out of Germany suggest their public doesn't feel the PIIGS are making sufficient sacrifices.

The economic model means prosperity for Germany, but the politics could force Greece out. In the meantime, some kind of default is probably going to happen.

[Giant Communist Robot]

From Yahoo

Germany's high court on Wednesday upheld the country's participation in emergency measures to fight the eurozone debt turmoil, but ruled that lawmakers had to vet future plans to commit taxpayer money, potentially slowing decision-making in a fast-moving crisis.

Yeah, the EU was moving way too fast

[Haggis@wk]

From Drudge:

WARNING: EU COULD BREAK

Wanna start a pool for when Merkel will ask Obama for a loan? Wanna bet that he'll give it???

[Shapley]

China has announced it will up its investment in Europe in order to bolster the EU's economy.

Somehow, I now have a feeling that Chinese mothers are telling their children: "Finish that food on your plate. There are starving Europeans and Americans that would love to have that egg roll..."

[Haggis@wk]

EUROPE’S DEBT CRISIS THREATENS AMERICA.

“Last week, the mighty Federal Reserve moved to help European banks that have been having trouble finding people who are willing to lend them money. . . . A crucial mechanism linking financial players in the United States to the problems in Europe involves credit default swaps, those insurance-like products that did so much damage during the 2008 financial crisis.”

Sigh. It's like we really, really want to jump in front of the bus to stop it.

[piqaboo]

PIIGS may just be the worst acronym ever.

[jamiebk]

Perhaps this will explain the EU bailout better than I could: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/ ... &hpt=hp_c2

(I am still working on getting the Barmaid's name and phone number)

(PS...sorry, but you'll have to sit through a 30 second ad)

[dai bread]

Some kind soul took the ad. off the version I saw.

[Haggis@wk]

Perhaps this will explain the EU bailout better than I could: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/ ... &hpt=hp_c2

(I am still working on getting the Barmaid's name and phone number)

(PS...sorry, but you'll have to sit through a 30 second ad)

You couldn't hear my whimpering as I saw all that beautiful beer wasted!!!!

[Shapley]

(I am still working on getting the Barmaid's name and phone number)

Mia 020-7608-0925

[Haggis@wk]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-3 ... endum.html Greece has now, unexpectedly, decided that the electorate will vote on the "rescue" package which virtually dooms the program and almost certainly will cause Greece to revert to the Dracma. The Greeks have never paid their debts, what on Earth led the Euro-bankers/politicians to think the Greeks would now? They've been living on "other people's money" (and defaulting) for over a century

I think we are seeing the beginning of the end.