[Army Air Corps]

Ping.

[SAJ]

Nothing to say. I read Friedman's two extended pieces on Maastricht and the Euro in 1995 and 1997, respectively. He was correct in his views as expressed in those two pieces, indeed, almost spookily so, given subsequent events.

The only reason that the Euro hasn't crashed and burned (yet) is that every major central bank in the world is drinking the pseudo-Keynesian, Krugmanian Kool-Aid; to wit, that creating money out of thin air is the ONLY way to save the big banks (why do they require saving, hmm?) and keep "growth" (retch, choke) going. They're all playing that game we played as kids, "Pass the Trash" or "Screw Your Buddy", but with untold trillions at stake instead of pennies.

Thus, the mad rush to print money, thence to inflate -- the irresponsible debtor governments' universal, all-purpose solution to reduce (haha) or get out of (chortle!) debt.

The only remaining point of discussion is the precise timing of when this corrupt, Goldbergian system blows. Pays your money, takes your choice.