Requiem for the Euro

[bigmack]

I always thought it was a bad idea. I remember several heated arguments with some German chums in LA.

"PREPARATIONS were under way last night for the break-up of the euro as Europe’s debt crisis spiralled out of control.

As Treasury officials worked through the night to soften the impact on Britain, David Cameron warned that the single European currency was facing its “moment of truth”.

Business Secretary Vince Cable went further and spoke about “Armageddon” while Brussels officials warned that the chaos threatened to plunge us all into a new recession.

Ministers are understood to be deeply concerned that French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel are secretly plotting to build a new, slimmed down eurozone without Greece, Italy and other debt-ridden southern European nations.

Well-placed Brussels sources say Germany and France have already held private discussions on preparing for the disintegration of the eurozone....

Nice piece: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/283060

[boxcar]

I always thought it was a bad idea. I remember several heated arguments with some German chums in LA.

"PREPARATIONS were under way last night for the break-up of the euro as Europe’s debt crisis spiralled out of control.

As Treasury officials worked through the night to soften the impact on Britain, David Cameron warned that the single European currency was facing its “moment of truth”.

Business Secretary Vince Cable went further and spoke about “Armageddon” while Brussels officials warned that the chaos threatened to plunge us all into a new recession.

Ministers are understood to be deeply concerned that French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel are secretly plotting to build a new, slimmed down eurozone without Greece, Italy and other debt-ridden southern European nations.

Well-placed Brussels sources say Germany and France have already held private discussions on preparing for the disintegration of the eurozone....

Nice piece: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/283060

Even the compassionate eurosocialists want to dump the deadbeats. Wonder if we'll ever learn that lesson here? Probably not.

Boxcar

[Robert Goren]

Nobody cares about the countries. It is all about the banks who own the PIIGS debt. The Greek deal to save the banks was actual pretty cheap because Greece has small economy. Italy is a different story. It is the world's eighth largest economy. The ten year Italian note hit 7%. Our ten year note is at 2% by comparison. They had an auction of Italian notes yesterday and they sold out in record time. That because everybody who bought them thinks they will get paid by Germany and France.
This kind of stuff goes on all the time with small countries. They either default or they print more money or both. Several Latin American countries did that in last part of the last century. The US government bailed out the American banks that held their notes. It was such a small amount that very few people even noticed. The problem with the PIIGS is that they don't control their own currency so they can't print their way out of it. It is not know how much exposure that US banks have to the PIIGS. The guesses run from next to none to a fair amount. There is probably some hedge funds that hold quite a bit, but we don't have cover their losses like we do with the banks if they gambled too much. Every time I hear a politician talk about less regulation I cringe. The tea party thinks they talking about the EPA, but I know that they are really talking the banks and it going cost the taxpayers money in the future. It is not a matter of if, but a matter of when. Nobody want a repeat of the great depression which was caused by so many banks going under. A small town where I use to live had 5 banks in 1928. By 1933 it had 1. I remember as kid in the fifties being amazed by how many buildings that were being use as bars and cafes had bank vaults.

[DJofSD]

Well, for whatever reason, justified or not, the death of the Euro is basically an admission of a mistake.

Will the US ever admit the Fannie, Freddie, Dodd and Frank are all big fat mistakes too and flush those ideas down the toilet?