FinanceDude
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2006
- Messages
- 12,483
I told you guys and gains to rebalance and take gains..........hope y'all did.........
Financedude
Financedude
If he wasn't there yesterday he'll be there tomorrow...Dawg, didn't you say you were all in CD's? (heh)
Saw video clips of riots in Greece, protesting their gummint's austerity measure. What do Greek citizens want? Going off Euro standard so that they can print more money? When do people learn that gummints do not create wealth ?
I don't understand the rioting either, but printing money might actually be the right thing to do, at least according to Krugman. It wouldn't create any wealth, but it would let them devalue their currency and export their way out of this mess. I guess it would also screw their bond holders.Saw video clips of riots in Greece, protesting their gummint's austerity measure. What do Greek citizens want? Going off Euro standard so that they can print more money? When do people learn that gummints do not create wealth ?
Are you kidding. They want to retire at 51 and let the Germans pay for it...Saw video clips of riots in Greece, protesting their gummint's austerity measure. What do Greek citizens want? Going off Euro standard so that they can print more money? When do people learn that gummints do not create wealth ?
I told you guys and gains to rebalance and take gains..........hope y'all did.........
Financedude
We have been to Europe several times, but not Greece. That was next on our list, but is now scratched off. Summer vacation season is here, but tourists are cancelling their planned trips. The Greeks are just cutting their own throat.The bright side is the Euro keeps getting cheaper. Maybe I will be able to afford to go to Europe in this lifetime after all.
March 2008.It has been my opinion that the fall of the US dollar is completely overdone especially Vs the Euro. The purchasing power parity between the 2 currencies is completely out of whack in my opinion, and Europe faces as many challenges if not more than the US down the road. As a percentage of GDP, the US debt (9 trillion dollars) is no larger than that of most Eurozone countries, Europe has many more costly social programs to keep funding in the future, it has generally lower growth hence lower tax revenues to pay for these programs, and European citizens are already maxed out on taxes (as high as 50% of gross income in some countries), so they can't even raise taxes to keep funding these programs. And let's not even talk about the shaky political underpinnings of the Euro as a currency.
October 2008.1) the stability of the Euro. The Euro is not like the dollar. It is not the currency of a single, unified country. It's the currency of a group of countries that cannot agree on much and often pull in different directions to suit their particular needs. Every so often, there are threats from Germany and others to do away with the Euro and go back to the good old days when the Bundesbank was setting interest rates appropriate for the German economy. I don't see it happening anytime soon, but given the right political and economic conditions, some countries might want to move away from the rigidity and limitations imposed by the Eurozone. It's interesting to note that more than a few of my European friends think that the Euro will have disappeared in 10 years. Off course the ECB won't acknowledge that...
October 2008European politicians generally support the Euro, but there is no lost resentment for the common currency among regular people. People feel like the Euro was rammed down their throat by eager politicians. The currency switch was followed in many countries by a spike in inflation which reduced purchasing power and increased resentment. I am a European voter, and while I have always supported the Euro, I know plenty of people who never have and never will. If you live in a country in recession and the ECB keeps the interest rates at 4% because other countries are booming, there will be a political backlash and pressure to revert to a national currency will mount. This will only reinforce the argument that the Eurozone is taking decision making out of the hands of national governments (an already touchy subject). Also the Eurozone rule capping national budget deficit at 3% of GDP is also forcing governments to cut back on popular programs in times of crises which fans people's dislike for a centralized currency policy. You may think that this is an unlikely scenario, but you have to understand how we, Europeans, see Europe.
Well, the Euro and Europe managed to get themselves in the ditch sooner that I had anticipated...
http://www.early-retirement.org/for...-the-us-dollar-murdered-34067.html#post628937
March 2008.
http://www.early-retirement.org/for...urrency-system-evolving-39887.html#post734648
October 2008.
http://www.early-retirement.org/for...urrency-system-evolving-39887.html#post734670
October 2008
Now look for more social unrest...
We have been to Europe several times, but not Greece. That was next on our list, but is now scratched off. Summer vacation season is here, but tourists are cancelling their planned trips. The Greeks are just cutting their own throat.
Perhaps I can be a "contrarian traveler", and go there while their hotels and attractions are empty. Just have to watch for and dodge those Molotov cocktails...
You've been saying this since last July, at some point you are going to be right. How much would we have missed if we got out last July?
We have been there.Go to Italy - south, north or Sicily.
We have been there too!If you want to see Greek statues go to the British Museum.
Looks like the UK may have been smart not to go the Euro route. It just proves that most nations want to be paid in US dollars, regardless of what the "experts" say...........
Something looks very fishy about this 'blip' in the chart...
Yeah, somebody really made out.
Like no volume during the blip maybe? Is this a reporting error?Something looks very fishy about this 'blip' in the chart...