Euro 'will be dead in five years'
Euro 'will be dead in five years'
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simonrockman

Original Poster:

7,127 posts

285 months

Monday 7th June 2010
quotequote all
Article in the Telegraph

fadeaway

1,463 posts

256 months

Monday 7th June 2010
quotequote all
The Telegraph said:
The euro will have broken up before the end of this Parliamentary term, according to the bulk of economists taking part...

... Of the 25 leading City economists who took part in the Telegraph survey, 12 predicted that the euro would not survive in its current form this Parliamentary term
This isn't an election you know, 12 out of 25 is in no way "the bulk"! Who let this idiot write for the telegraph, let alone in the economics section!!!

Mutley

3,178 posts

289 months

Monday 7th June 2010
quotequote all
fadeaway said:
The Telegraph said:
The euro will have broken up before the end of this Parliamentary term, according to the bulk of economists taking part...

... Of the 25 leading City economists who took part in the Telegraph survey, 12 predicted that the euro would not survive in its current form this Parliamentary term
This isn't an election you know, 12 out of 25 is in no way "the bulk"! Who let this idiot write for the telegraph, let alone in the economics section!!!
I make that just under 50%, so certainly the bulk when you take in the rest of the quote:

"Of the 25 leading City economists who took part in the Telegraph survey, 12 predicted that the euro would not survive in its current form this Parliamentary term, compared with eight who suspected it would. Five declared themselves undecided.

Therefore the bulk of respondents have estimated that the Euro won't last in it's current form.

Somewhatfoolish

5,086 posts

216 months

Monday 7th June 2010
quotequote all
"it is an open question whether Greece will experience some form of revolution or coup – I'd put the likelihood of that over the next five years as around one in four."

I'd put the likelihood of that guy being pissed as about 1 in 2

eharding

14,648 posts

314 months

Monday 7th June 2010
quotequote all
Somewhatfoolish said:
"it is an open question whether Greece will experience some form of revolution or coup – I'd put the likelihood of that over the next five years as around one in four."

I'd put the likelihood of that guy being pissed as about 1 in 2
Well, given that the last coups were in 1967 and 1974, you could argue that they're well overdue another one.


CDP

8,053 posts

284 months

Tuesday 8th June 2010
quotequote all
eharding said:
Somewhatfoolish said:
"it is an open question whether Greece will experience some form of revolution or coup – I'd put the likelihood of that over the next five years as around one in four."

I'd put the likelihood of that guy being pissed as about 1 in 2
Well, given that the last coups were in 1967 and 1974, you could argue that they're well overdue another one.
I think a default is more likely. If they have to go through the massive austerity regime necessary to pay back their debts they probably will have a revolution; followed by a default anyway.

I think the sooner the Germans get out of the Euro the better for everybody. Especially them.

The ordered dismantling of the Euro is probably the best way to avoid the return of dictatorships emerging in Europe.

Unfortunately the ruling "Elite" will see it necessary to keep the Euro at any price; until they realise exactly how high that price could be.

Fittster

20,120 posts

243 months

Tuesday 8th June 2010
quotequote all
When will the pound be dead? Fiat currencies never last.

With a bit of googling:

"At present there are 176 currencies in circulation in the world.

The median age for all existing currencies in circulation is only 39 years"

s2art

18,942 posts

283 months

Tuesday 8th June 2010
quotequote all
Fittster said:
When will the pound be dead? Fiat currencies never last.

With a bit of googling:

"At present there are 176 currencies in circulation in the world.

The median age for all existing currencies in circulation is only 39 years"
How long has the pound existed?

eharding

14,648 posts

314 months

Tuesday 8th June 2010
quotequote all
Fittster said:
"The median age for all existing currencies in circulation is only 39 years"
Thats what happens when you take a number of old-world European currencies with collectively thousands of years of history behind them, and flush them down the Euro.

Fittster

20,120 posts

243 months

Tuesday 8th June 2010
quotequote all
s2art said:
Fittster said:
When will the pound be dead? Fiat currencies never last.

With a bit of googling:

"At present there are 176 currencies in circulation in the world.

The median age for all existing currencies in circulation is only 39 years"
How long has the pound existed?
In what form, is the pound on the gold standard the same pound we have today?

The Bank of England was formed in 1694 and started issuing pounds but I'd argue that the money we have today goes back to 1931 when we came off the gold standard.

Fittster

20,120 posts

243 months

Tuesday 8th June 2010
quotequote all
eharding said:
Fittster said:
"The median age for all existing currencies in circulation is only 39 years"
Thats what happens when you take a number of old-world European currencies with collectively thousands of years of history behind them, and flush them down the Euro.
Which currency in the Euro zone went back 100s of years?

Spiritual_Beggar

4,833 posts

224 months

Tuesday 8th June 2010
quotequote all
s2art said:
Fittster said:
When will the pound be dead? Fiat currencies never last.

With a bit of googling:

"At present there are 176 currencies in circulation in the world.

The median age for all existing currencies in circulation is only 39 years"
How long has the pound existed?
It's the oldest still in use.

And that's because it is the best biggrin


Interesting little snippet from the Wiki article on the Pound;

"James Callaghan came to power in 1976. He was immediately told the economy was facing huge problems, according to documents released in 2006 by the National Archives.[17] Financial markets were losing confidence in sterling. The UK treasury could not balance its books, while Labour's strategy emphasised high public spending. Callaghan was told there were three possible outcomes: a disastrous free fall in Sterling, an internationally unacceptable siege economy or a deal with key allies to prop up the pound while painful economic reforms were put in place"


So we can all now see that a Leopard never changes it's spots! Which of thee three outcomes do you reckon we're in for this time?

s2art

18,942 posts

283 months

Tuesday 8th June 2010
quotequote all
Fittster said:
s2art said:
Fittster said:
When will the pound be dead? Fiat currencies never last.

With a bit of googling:

"At present there are 176 currencies in circulation in the world.

The median age for all existing currencies in circulation is only 39 years"
How long has the pound existed?
In what form, is the pound on the gold standard the same pound we have today?

The Bank of England was formed in 1694 and started issuing pounds but I'd argue that the money we have today goes back to 1931 when we came off the gold standard.
Dont buy that argument. There was continuity, people who had pounds from before '31 still used them. That was just a devaluation.

Spiritual_Beggar

4,833 posts

224 months

Tuesday 8th June 2010
quotequote all
Fittster said:
eharding said:
Fittster said:
"The median age for all existing currencies in circulation is only 39 years"
Thats what happens when you take a number of old-world European currencies with collectively thousands of years of history behind them, and flush them down the Euro.
Which currency in the Euro zone went back 100s of years?
The 'Franc' was a few hundred years old I believe. Not much else was arround for a huge amount of timee though. not in comparison to teh Franc & Pound

Fittster

20,120 posts

243 months

Tuesday 8th June 2010
quotequote all
s2art said:
Fittster said:
s2art said:
Fittster said:
When will the pound be dead? Fiat currencies never last.

With a bit of googling:

"At present there are 176 currencies in circulation in the world.

The median age for all existing currencies in circulation is only 39 years"
How long has the pound existed?
In what form, is the pound on the gold standard the same pound we have today?

The Bank of England was formed in 1694 and started issuing pounds but I'd argue that the money we have today goes back to 1931 when we came off the gold standard.
Dont buy that argument. There was continuity, people who had pounds from before '31 still used them. That was just a devaluation.
They couldn't exchange them for a lump of yellow metal, free from government interference could they. That's the fundamental difference, purchasing power is hugely eroded.

“I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of …”

RobDickinson

31,343 posts

284 months

Tuesday 8th June 2010
quotequote all
s2art said:
Fittster said:
s2art said:
Fittster said:
When will the pound be dead? Fiat currencies never last.

With a bit of googling:

"At present there are 176 currencies in circulation in the world.

The median age for all existing currencies in circulation is only 39 years"
How long has the pound existed?
In what form, is the pound on the gold standard the same pound we have today?

The Bank of England was formed in 1694 and started issuing pounds but I'd argue that the money we have today goes back to 1931 when we came off the gold standard.
Dont buy that argument. There was continuity, people who had pounds from before '31 still used them. That was just a devaluation.
on that front then I guess its 1971 when it changed to metric....

Silver993tt

9,064 posts

269 months

Tuesday 8th June 2010
quotequote all
It's always funny to see predictions of the demise of a currency such as the Euro when there's been a 2-3% change in it's value against £. The exchange rate has been around £/1.15 for months and now it's £1.20/£. The £ is still 20% down on the Euro compared to 2-3 years ago, so even if it went back to that level it would be nothing new.

One of the ideas behind the Euro was to bolster other Eurozone countries when they has some trouble with their economies. That's what's happening right now. Better to have friends to help you out rather than being on your own because trouble will always strike at some point.

JohnnyJones

1,778 posts

208 months

Tuesday 8th June 2010
quotequote all
Weren't Francs the remains of the last attempt at a single currency? What happened there?

BOR

5,149 posts

285 months

Tuesday 8th June 2010
quotequote all
I'm flummoxed, quite frankly.

There is resentment in Germany, to bailing out what are seen as profligate countries, when Germany itself, has problems.

But a super-strong German currency would kill our export driven ecomomy. I think we could survive the current "fracas", but I'm nervous about survival under a Deutschemark.

I feel that the german electorate want to return to the Mark,so it could be easy meat for any party who campaign on exiting the €.

Edited by BOR on Tuesday 8th June 07:43

Dr Jekyll

23,820 posts

291 months

Tuesday 8th June 2010
quotequote all
Silver993tt said:
It's always funny to see predictions of the demise of a currency such as the Euro when there's been a 2-3% change in it's value against £. The exchange rate has been around £/1.15 for months and now it's £1.20/£. The £ is still 20% down on the Euro compared to 2-3 years ago, so even if it went back to that level it would be nothing new.

One of the ideas behind the Euro was to bolster other Eurozone countries when they has some trouble with their economies. That's what's happening right now. Better to have friends to help you out rather than being on your own because trouble will always strike at some point.
But the point is that without the Euro Greece might not be in so much trouble, because they could devalue relative to their neighbours. You can get 'help' without having the same currency, see the IMF.

If we had the Euro, we would effectively have a currency 20% overvalued by now.