Athens Mulls Plans for New Currency; Greece Considers Exit from Euro Zone

[Caliga]

Hoppa!

Did you mean to say "Opa!" ?

[Grey Fox]

Yes! Opa!

[Valmy]

The correct mechanism is 'blitzkreig'.  But the Germans haven't regrown the hair that the Allies shaved off their balls in 1945 yet.

Maybe they need to bring the Ukraine in and then use hordes of Cossacks.

[Ed Anger]

The correct mechanism is 'blitzkreig'.  But the Germans haven't regrown the hair that the Allies shaved off their balls in 1945 yet.

Maybe they need to bring the Ukraine in and then use hordes of Cossacks.

Maybe the Wops could invade again from Albania.

[Caliga]

Maybe they need to bring the Ukraine in

Maybe they just hire the Cossacks as mercenaries?

[Zanza2]

So what happens to Greek Euros if Greece leave the Eurozone?  Also what about the Euros that exist only on banksheets and in computers?  How do you divvy up these virtual Euros?

That's really the smallest problem. The cash will just stay valid currency in the remaining Eurozone and they will phase it out slowly. Reducing the amount of cash in circulation is easy for a central bank.
As far as money that only exists in accounts is concerned, you can just leave those accounts in Euro for a while and pay the equivalent amount in the new currency (depending on daily exchange rate of course). Meaning that all money in Greek banks can only be withdrawn or transferred as if it was drachma.

[Razgovory]

Wouldn't that cause Greeks to transfer their money to non-Greek banks to prevent their money from wildly fluctuating in value?

[Slargos]

How should a union expect to survive long term without a common currency?

[Pat]

Not sure what you mean. If you take the customs union part of the EU, for example, it doesn't require a common currency, and the same goes for most of the other stuff the EU does.

[Slargos]

Not sure what you mean. If you take the customs union part of the EU, for example, it doesn't require a common currency, and the same goes for most of the other stuff the EU does.

Common customs union, constitution, parliament, diffusion of laws, etc etc etc.

It's not hard to spot where this is going, and it needs to come to its natural conclusion. EU wil be USE before the end of the 21st century or it will be fractured.

[Admiral Yi]

Unlike the Fed, the ECB can't just create money from thin air.

??

[Valmy]

Well I look forward to you chanting U-S-E!  U-S-E!  U-S-E!

[Neil]

Well, the Euro is a bad idea (or at least a good idea badly implemented), so maybe Greece's idea isn't so bad after all.

It's a good idea in theory, as is the rest of the EU.  But they expanded far to quickly.

Where the Euro fails is that it doesn't take into account the different policy requirements across the EU.

[Razgovory]

Well, the Euro is a bad idea (or at least a good idea badly implemented), so maybe Greece's idea isn't so bad after all.

It's a good idea in theory, as is the rest of the EU.  But they expanded far to quickly.

Where the Euro fails is that it doesn't take into account the different policy requirements across the EU.

Indeed.  France, Germany and the Benelux have similar economies.  While Syt is correct there would still be difficulties, they could probably hammer those out.  Countries like Estonia or Bulgaria are worlds apart in their economic methods and goals.

The best thing the EU and the EURO could do is make trade simpler and less expensive.  They could gradually let in more countries, but not like in the last decade where they invited almost everyone in.

[Zanza2]

Wouldn't that cause Greeks to transfer their money to non-Greek banks to prevent their money from wildly fluctuating in value?

Of course. Greece would probably have to institute capital controls for some time, which would violate the single market regulations. So they would basically not just quit the Eurozone, but also quit the single market for some time.