Posted on 06/01/2012 6:22:02 AM PDT by Kartographer
for the euro to take hold, there had to be a period of overlap cash in where old currency could be turned in. Stores would not accept dracma and only banks would convert.
To reverse it, you would have a massive black market in dollars and some euros. You can’t shift to a new currency with an old currency (euro) in circulation.
I think you are overly opptomistic on this point. And I'm not being my usual sarcastic self with that comment.
Hence my use of “functionally”. Sure they can print drachmas, but it will not function as currency. There isn’t even a pretense of value behind it. The dollar once was gold/silver-backed and weaned away from that when other value was infused. The euro was based on a wholesale agreed-on currency swap, eliminating certain currencies and replaced by fixed ratios with something new and otherwise valueless. The drachma, however, will have no basis in any value real or implied - save only perhaps by demanding tax payments in drachmas, thus persuading people to accept government checks issued in that otherwise valueless currency.
Why?
Very true. The question is if the US follows, or if the US can bring itself back from the brink.
If not, we’re likely to have a conflagration which no one, or very few, will survive.
Interesting EU fact: I note that the Norwegian National Security Autority now is reading like a combination of the worst output of the Obama campaign and NYT. In a country that is rapidly tipping towards a DDR model, this bears watching.
How many slices of bread can you buy for a wheelbarrow of cash in Zimbabwe?
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