Europe's Problem Is Decidedly Not the Euro

"The sole use of money is to circulate consumable goods" - Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, p. 370

With the health of Europe's economy increasingly in question, a great deal of ink is being spilled as to its causes. Most unfortunate and wrongheaded is the growing view that the creation of a common currency - the euro - is behind the continent's troubles.

http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2011/08/25/europes_problem_is_decidedly_not_the_euro_99208.html

Panic & Anxiety Swirl a Storm

Something big is going on in the United States in a sentiment change, an altered state of psychology, a growing sense of panic. My opinion is that the nation has entered the early stage of comprehension among the population of systemic failure. The most immediate measures are the rash of heavy selling down days in the US Stock market, the strong purchases in Gold, as well as the reactions to constant news of sovereign debt in trouble, and the big banks teetering.

http://news.goldseek.com/GoldenJackass/1314216000.php

In An Unsustainable System, A Warning of Collapse

August 24 2011: The meaning of the social security and medicare cuts, the continuing influence of the Council on foreign Relations, no real Consumer Price Index to go by, Euro zone not fully aware of the problem they have, a massive exposure for them, extended and unpayable debt.

http://beforeitsnews.com/story/1003/550/In_An_Unsustainable_System,_A_Warning_of_Collapse.html

We've been warned: the system is ready to blow

To understand the mess we are in, it's important to know how we got here. Today marks the 40th anniversary of Richard Nixon's announcement that America was suspending the convertibility of the dollar into gold at $35 an ounce. Speculative attacks on the dollar had begun in the late 1960s as concerns mounted over America's rising trade deficit and the cost of the Vietnam war. Other countries were increasingly reluctant to take dollars in payment and demanded gold instead. Nixon called time on the Bretton Woods system of fixed but adjustable exchange rates, under which countries could use capital controls in order to stimulate their economies without fear of a run on their currency. It was also an era in which protectionist measures were used quite liberally: Nixon announced on 15 August 1971 that he was imposing a 10% tax on all imports into the US.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/aug/14/larry-elliott-global-financial-system