“NOW IS THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT.....”
When William Shakespeare wrote the line above, he was writing about a glorious event; little did he suspect that several centuries on, someone would use the same line to describe a less than glorious state of affairs.
I write about the Eurozone crisis that has been festering for more than 18 months now. I would make one statement that I believe sums up our coming winter of discontent:
So begins serfdom for the masses
I make this comment on the basis of the following points (in no particular order of priority):
- Vast sums of money have been thrown at both countries and institutions (banks in particular); this is “fiat” money, backed by nothing more than empty promises
- Cuts on a dramatic scale are the “order of the day” (say the IMF/ECB and others)
- Leadership is non-existent in the EU (see how they bicker and contradict each other with their statements of “all is well”)
- The
- On 15 and 16 September 2011, five central banks started throwing billions of US dollars into the system over three months to December; two points from this: a) banks are scared of lending to each other as they are uncertain who has “toxic” assets on their books and b) we are being prepared for a significant default by Greece (in the first instance)
- I would quote Jacques Delors (one of the founding fathers of the EU), from 2001: “sooner or later, the Euro will experience a crisis; there is no mechanism in place to combat this – but by the time comes there will be”
- With so much “dubious” collateral sitting in the ECB, I ask does it have any value?
- When a default comes, prepare for financial meltdown
- Finally, who will pay? Every member of the European Union – all 300 million plus of them – and not over the short term but VERY long-term.
Thus, I revert to my point from earlier: so begins serfdom for the masses and I can see no end in sight.
This is the first VIEWPOINT in an occasional series dealing with events of the moment.
Until next time,
Peripatetic Scribe
Couldn't agree more - western Europe is going down the drain! Happy I live in "Rugby World Cup" land. If I were in Europe, think I would buy Swiss Francs - a safe haven?
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting:http://youtu.be/fxPBh-5TJBQ, what do you think?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - I think Lucana you posted this! I have watched the video and find it quite remarkable. I would recommend everyone to watch it as it sums up an intolerable situation extremely well. Thank you very much for this piece of amazement! P.S.
ReplyDeleteIf you are interested, this article from CNN will amaze you - just shows how little TRUST is in the system inside the EU. P.S.
ReplyDeletehttp://edition.cnn.com/2011/09/19/business/gold-central-banks/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Anonymous (from New Zealand) - quite agree. Have a look at some of the comments that have arrived since yours - they will reinforce your views. On the question of Swiss Francs, yes it may be good for the individual BUT I fear for the medium-term stability of the country. You cannot continue printing money without severe inflation creeping into the system. And once that "genie" is out of the bottle, its difficult to get it back in! P.S.
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