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Roads to war in Europe | 272 comments (272 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
Re: Roads to war in Europe (none / 0)
The 'two to three trillion Euros' is highly unlikely to be even mostly cash. Most will be real estate, the price of which can decline but which still retains its use value non-the-less. Most adult Italians have a good idea of how to survive with a currency that is fairly rapidly depreciating. That was their reality for most of the second half of the 20th Century.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Sun Mar 10th, 2013 at 12:13:34 PM EST
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Re: Roads to war in Europe (none / 0)
Most adult Italians have a good idea of how to survive with a currency that is fairly rapidly depreciating.

Yes, and that is why they are going to hold on to the Euro teeth and claws. Latest polls suggest that 67% of Italians want to stay in the Euro and only the lunatic fringe of 10% wants the Lira back.
by The European on Mon Mar 11th, 2013 at 07:58:28 AM EST
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Re: Roads to war in Europe (none / 1)
Did you remember to look beyond the headline to see what the response was when retaining the Euro was made explicitly contingent on continued austerity economic suicide?

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Mon Mar 11th, 2013 at 03:39:25 PM EST
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Re: Roads to war in Europe (none / 0)
The 'two to three trillion Euros' is highly unlikely to be even mostly cash.

That is true, but even a fraction of that would be enough to completely floor the economy. Remember the bank run on Greek and Spanish banks last summer. Different from Greece and Spain, the ECB isn't going to put a single cent into Italy if the problem is perceived to be due to political instability in Italy.
by The European on Mon Mar 11th, 2013 at 08:16:10 AM EST
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Re: Roads to war in Europe (none / 1)
the ECB isn't going to put a single cent into Italy if the problem is perceived to be due to political instability in Italy
The ECB is going to do whatever it needs to ensure its own continued existence as an institution.

I distribute. You re-distribute. He gives your hard-earned money to lazy scroungers. -- JakeS
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Mar 11th, 2013 at 08:17:33 AM EST
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Re: Roads to war in Europe (4.00 / 2)
Fortunately, if the ECB refuses to do its job as lender of first and last resort to the Italian government, the Italian central bank can recover a large fraction of the exiting money simply by defaulting on its outstanding Target balances.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Mon Mar 11th, 2013 at 03:40:43 PM EST
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Roads to war in Europe | 272 comments (272 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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