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What about credit card transactions? With banks free to decide between transferring Euros or Drachmas to complete the transaction, I'd be very surprised if they choose to transfer Euros. I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.
Those wishing to convert ND's to Euros without having approved transaction to spend the Euros on would indeed have to pay a premium ~ that is, indeed, part of the point of a New Drachma reform, in addition to the government being able to spend ND's on direct employment programs ~ but the settlement rate for qualifying tax obligations and contracted payments would remain 1:1. I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.
In practice some tradesmen will refuse to accept ND, but most will accept them at a discount.
The thing is that if you take someone to court - over, say, a debt - he would be able to pay in ND rather than Euro, at no discount. So the creditor has a fairly substantial incentive to come to an arrangement.
What this means is that:
So the question is whether shops can get merchandise for sale for New Drachmas. For approved imports within the government ability to meet Euro claims at 1:1, that merchandise can be obtained for Neo Drachmas.
So the critical element would be an agreement by the Chinese to extend RMB¥ credit payable in some agreed ratio of €:NeoDrachma.
Given that, there would be shops who would take the Neo Drachma, and given that shops who take the Neo Drachma will have booming business while shops that do not will see business dry up even more than today, resistance to taking Neo Drachmas will either be resolved in hold-outs giving in or hold-outs closing up and their place taken by those who accept Neo Drachmas. I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.
The discount would probably be very high,
That the collapse of an overvalued currency peg sucks is not something any sane person would deny.
It's just that unilaterally attempting to maintain an overvalued currency peg sucks worse.
- Jake If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.
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