[AustinBill]

The irony is that when the world implodes the USA is still the best place to put money so this actually improves relative financial position. The socialist states of the EU will be much harder hit and it will be interesting to see if the EU and Euro survive it's first real crisis. China's social problems were suppressed only because everyone was distracted by money. Remove that prop and things could get ugly very quickly. Around the globe parasitic governments will have a hard time finding their next handout as the graft supply dries up.

Interesting times indeed.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

I’ve read that the Euro is backed by debt, not by hard assets, since there’s no real EU treasury. Apparently it’s the sum total of some assets (debt assets?) of all the component countires, but actually the individual governments have autonomy and can act in their own local interest (as we saw with Ireland guaranteeing all deposits) to save their local banks. What assets does the ECB have access to that lets it support the value of the Euro?

On top of this, their demographics don’t bode well for the future, with exploding obligations to future retirees. It doesn’t seem like there’d be a good reason to keep money in a European bank right now unless you believe countries like Ireland have enough wealth to back its deposits if the worst happens.

“May you live in interesting times.”