THE UN-CURRENCY (GIVE ME A GYRO AND SOME GOLD)

The politics of destruction continue somehow as crooked Greek lawmakers voted to keep leaders in positions to destroy their economy.  By allowing the Greek PM to escape through the vote of confidence yesterday, Greek legislators essentially deferred what is going to happen anyway, it only prolongs the pain. 

In the mean time, the mass exodus of money continues as Greeks seek to find places to stash their cash fearing the coming collapse of the Euro they know is coming.  Regular folks are buying gold and silver and even an olive grove to diversify out of the doomed fiat.



http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/c986823e-9bf8-11e0-bef9-00144feabdc0.html

ATHENS -- Greek citizens are emptying savings accounts and buying gold as they brace themselves for the possibility of a sovereign default and a run on the banks.
Pledges by socialist prime minister George Papandreou that his government would "save the country" have been widely discounted by the public. However, parliament gave him a vote of confidence late on Tuesday night. The socialists have a six-seat majority in the 300-member house.
Sales of gold coins have soared as savers seek a safer and fungible source of value.

"When the global financial crisis started, our sales of coins to investors overtook bullion for the first time," said Harry Krinakis, at Sepheriades, a Greek precious metals trader. "Now the sales ratio has reached five to one."

Tomas, a computer technician, has exchanged his euro savings for gold coins: "I keep them at home just like my grandmother did in the Second World War."

Monthly bank withdrawals were running at E1.5 billion-E2 billion in the first quarter. Last year, depositors withdrew E30 billion, equivalent to 12.3 per cent of total savings, according to the central bank. Greek deposits worth an estimated E8 billion were transferred to banks in Cyprus in 2010. But the flow has dried up this year amid fears that Cypriot banks could suffer contagion.

Andreas, a supermarket manager, transferred the family savings to Munich earlier this year. "The Swiss banks aren't interested unless you’ve got several hundred thousand euros," he said.
"We can't trust the politicians to get us out of this mess [and] have to protect our families," said Sakis, a garage owner, at an anti-austerity protest in Athens' Syntagma Square. "A bank collapse has got to be in the cards." He added he had withdrawn his savings and placed them in a bank safe deposit box "for security. Who cares about interest right now?"

Others put their savings into land when prices fell after Greece's first European Union-led rescue last year. Angelos, a software specialist, bought a neighbour's olive grove. "I grabbed the opportunity," he said. "A year ago I wouldn't have considered making such an old-fashioned investment."

As tough as this is for Greeks, the only question I have it why we Amerikans aren't taking their lead and putting our cash in safer places?  Of course this isn't a situation that will unravel here in the US tomorrow or the next day, but it certainly is a picture of our future.  It cannot be avoided.

GOATMUG