QUESTION:
Martin,
An all electronic currency seems almost inevitable to some, however as you have stated in the past not everyone ha the ability/facility to transact solely electronically.
With cash being anything which is agreed the most marketable asset, wouldn’t the people of Europe just transact in another form of cash (USD, gold, silver etc.)
Is there a large enough cash alternative to the euro? (probably not)
I assume then the majority will perish while the thrifty will already be in USD.
Do you think they could actually coordinate a move to electronic currency on a world scale all at the same time?
so many questions
Regards
T
ANSWER: Assuming this is not globally coordinated, which would take brains and probably years to accomplish, the typical move by politicians has been to assume they are ALL POWERFUL demigods, and as such, they focus on their domestic fiefdom only. They are already hunting gold. The French had to leave town to buy or sell because the gold dealers were driven out of business with regulations that demanded they report everyone who bought or sold. They even chased out the rare coin and antique shows, as the dealers went to London and Zurich where they did not have to report on everything bought or sold. This is just an example of how they see the world through their own power. In the USA, both the city of Philadelphia and Atlantic City are destroying their own existence because they demand income taxes from anyone holding a convention or event there. We will never hold another conference in Philadelphia. They built a convention center with taxpayer money in the hundreds of millions of dollars that now remains in the dark most of the time.
Gold will be driven underground. If you have too much gold jewelry on, they will pull you over and weight it at the airport. So, this guy would be in trouble.
In all cases where a currency has been cancelled or the confidence in government collapses to any extent, from Russia to a Zimbabwe event, the people use the currency of a neighboring country. The best thing for Europeans to do right now is to hoard U.S. dollars in cash — not euros, and not even Swiss francs. The Swiss will surrender to the demands of the EU, so I would not count on those 1,000 Swiss franc notes remaining valid for long either. The USA would find it extremely difficult to move to electronic currency. The USD remains the legal tender since 1792. It has never been cancelled and it might even spark a breakup of the USA with the Bible Belt whom is moving to secede.
The Japanese kept demonetizing the currency with each emperor who came to power. They routinely devalued all outstanding currency to 1/10th of his new coinage. People could not hoard money so they turned to Chinese coinage. Japanese Emperors LOST the ability to issue money for nobody would accept it. Japan ceased issuing coins for 600 years and bags of rice and Chinese coins filled the vacancy.
Another alternative that will not set off the metal detectors will be diamonds, but this is a tough market with high margins. If you can get purely investment certified stones, perhaps. But this is an opinion-oriented closed market.
Understand how stupid government rulers really are. The difference between STUPIDITY and GENIUS is very clear: GENIUS has its limits. Why do the worst possible people want to rule? It is a question for a psychological study that is desperately needed.
