Swords and Tequila

I wonder when Greece will default.

When they do, they will submerge many French banks into a black hole, which will also submerge many U.S. banks into the same black hole particularly if the contagion spreads to other European nations. Unless, of course, German electrical engineers are willing to pay more taxes to bail out Greece which seems likely in the short term regardless. Along with the rest of Germanic output bailing out these failed institutions we'll see Grecian citizens pay through the nose with more property taxes, etc., in both the short and long term.

The wonderful life we all had between 2001 and 2006! When will we return to such prosperity and wealth?

It's all crystal clear to me how much influence the financial industry in every corner of the globe has over the political system, how much they can influence governments to force their losses onto citizenry. Austerity measures are heaped upon the working class in Athens, while 0.2% annual interest is unloaded on those of us Americans who save while still paying 14+% for credit. It is indeed a form of theft, but we handily accept this because we ourselves have never had any problem thieving from the future -- the many banks that hold stupendous amounts of Italian/Spanish/Grecian debt will simply recapitalize via 2 billion euro worth of "leverage" and we get to continue our charade for a few months/years longer, while these debts will still have to be paid by future production if they don't blow up the financial system before that.

It'd be a good thing for you yourself to limit your exposure to debt, IMO. I've worked for 25 straight years to do just that. I last Friday paid off another small debt, leaving me with just two other minor debts until I'm 100% free. Carrying no debt in a deflationary environment is king, as it is my expectation that deflation is the likely pressure we will face over the coming term.

And what of your equities when Greece defaults, huh? Do you think the markets will respond favorably when this happens, if it tilts us towards a double dip recession, if Morgan Stanley stock falls 22% in response to their exposure to French banks holding defaulted Greek bonds? As difficult as it may be at first, it's liberating to not ride the shock waves of the stock market when such events loom on the horizon. Sure, it's possible Athenians will be happy to pay another 1,300 euro in annual VAT and property taxes while engineers in Dusseldorf will equally be happy to pay another 1,450 euro to keep the system from falling apart.

Saving money is, in my mind, a double edged sword -- the more you save, the more likely you'll be legislated out of any future entitlements you've paid into during your working life. I think you'd be better off buying tequila to carry you through the fight.