Euro Declines on a Sea of Bankruptcy and Paper Promises

Currencies / Euro Jun 18, 2010 - 04:56 AM GMT

Richard Daughty writes: Do you ever get the feeling that you are in some kind of weird dream, where someone is holding a pillow over your face so that you can’t breathe, and you can dimly hear your children asking, “Is he dead yet, mom?” and I am thrashing around and yelling out, “No, I’m not dead, you morons!” but nobody is paying attention? Me, too!

And I get the same feeling watching the collapse of the economic system, as was always confidently predicted by the Austrian Business Cycle Theory and proudly on display at Mises.org, as my head is spinning, spinning, spinning around with wild conspiracy theories to try, desperately, to explain how a country that has so many colleges and universities, and which have graduated so many self-important alumni, for so long, has allowed this to happen!

And, as cold comfort as it is, it’s not just us. Everybody, in every country, is in the same boat, a nice little yacht made of promises and paper instead of fiberglass and steel, now being tossed and battered by an angry sea of losses and bankruptcy instead of water and waves, which, if you have ever made a paper boat out of a sheet of paper and put it in the water, always results in disaster when it gets soggy and ends up as a wet, useless, misshapen lump of soggy paper, ending your dreams of building a paper boat big enough to hold you so that you could just sail away to someplace where you could stay up as late as you wanted, and you could eat cookies and cake for breakfast if you wanted, anytime you like, and you didn’t have to listen to anybody tell you that Keynesian economics is not the piece of crap that it is, or that the Federal Reserve is not the treacherous, traitorous, ruination-by-inflation piece of crap that IT is.

Extending the metaphor (since I seem to be on somewhat of a roll), it is the euro that is in the part of the paper boat that is sinking fastest, although The Economist magazine is ever-optimistic, and says that “the euro’s decline, in contrast, should bolster exports for big manufacturers (particularly in northern Europe) and luxury goods companies while boosting tourism across the continent” which makes me wonder where in the hell people are getting the money to go on a European vacation and buy luxury goods, because there is nobody around here like that.

In fact, this is a dismal fact that was brought up by Larry Kudlow, on CNBC, where he asked some panel of morons for their explanations of where the money for real recovery is going to come from, now that the figures show that M3 money supply is falling, incomes are falling, the equity-extraction (“Your house is an ATM machine, ready to spew out money!”) madness that swept the country is completely gone, the collateralized mortgage market has disappeared and it is, I summarize, bad (pause) news (pause) all (pause) around.

Nobody, of course, had an answer to where the money was going to come from, meaning that everybody assumed that the money would come from, I assume, the same magical fairy-land where everybody lives, we collectively assume, happily ever after, and nobody ever has to live next door to somebody like me.

Unless, of course, the magic will be in the rising prices of gold, silver and oil, which makes investing so pleasantly easy that you involuntarily find yourself giggling aloud “Whee!”

Richard Daughty (Mogambo Guru) is general partner and COO for Smith Consultant Group, serving the financial and medical communities, and the writer/publisher of the Mogambo Guru economic newsletter, an avocational exercise to better heap disrespect on those who desperately deserve it. The Mogambo Guru is quoted frequently in Barron’s, The Daily Reckoning, and other fine publications.

© 2010 Copyright LewRockwell.com - All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

Only logged in users are allowed to post comments. Register/ Log in

The Market Oracle is a FREE Financial Markets Forecasting & Analysis web-site.
(c) 2005-2024 MarketOracle.co.uk (Market Oracle Ltd) - Market Oracle Ltd asserts copyright on all articles authored by our editorial team and all comments posted. Any and all information provided within the web-site, is for general information purposes only and Market Oracle Ltd do not warrant the accuracy, timeliness or suitability of any information provided on this site. nor is or shall be deemed to constitute, financial or any other advice or recommendation by us. and are also not meant to be investment advice or solicitation or recommendation to establish market positions. We do not give investment advice and our comments are an expression of opinion only and should not be construed in any manner whatsoever as recommendations to enter into a market position either stock, option, futures contract, bonds, commodity or any other financial instrument at any time. We recommend that independent professional advice is obtained before you make any investment or trading decisions. By using this site you agree to this sites Terms of Use. From time to time we promote or endorse certain products / services that we believe are worthy of your time and attention. In return for that endorsement and only in the cases where you purchase directly though us may we be compensated by the producers of those products.