King World News 07/07/2015
“The recent nosedive by Chinese stock prices is a red flag, not to mention real estate prices in that country are hanging from a thread and poised to follow stocks in a tailspin as investors look for liquidity and safety.
Then of course there is Greece, and more generally, the problems of weak economies and heavy debt loads in the eurozone as well as in other heavily indebted welfare states outside of Europe.
We can draw two conclusions from what we see: First, government intervention in markets is a destructive process that in the end makes a mess of things. This process inevitably ends in a disaster because decisions are made that are perceived to be politically expedient rather than being grounded as they should be on sound finance and economics.
Take Greece as one obvious example, and think back to May 2010 when Greece’s inability to repay its debts had reached a critical stage for the first time. The head of the European Central Bank at the time was Jean-Claude Trichet, who was relentless in saying that the ECB as an institution was independent of politicians and would not be the vehicle to bail-out Greece.
The ECB Is Already Insolvent But Still Has A €115 Billion Problem
He didn’t make those claims after Europe’s politicians, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, decided in a weekend meeting back then that Greece had to be bailed out and the ECB would do it. As a consequence, the ECB now has a €115 billion problem, which is the amount of Greek debt it is stuck with on its books.
Why didn’t the politicians just let Greece go under when the country’s problems five years ago were smaller, and therefore more easily manageable? Because politicians are not business-oriented. They couldn’t lose face by letting their beloved European project come apart at the seams, which could happen at any moment now anyway given that the ECB is fundamentally insolvent because the worthless Greek paper it holds is higher than its net worth.
Politicians don’t understand financial accountability nor the consequences of their actions when they intervene. Remember, history has shown that governments destroy markets long before the politicians ever understand how the market process and capitalism work. And in Europe we see that outcome unfolding while it is actually underway.
The second point is that banking as it is practiced today is fundamentally flawed. Here I am referring to the two functions of banks – lending and payment processing. Most economic activity today is done with deposit currency. In other words, money on deposit in banks circulates as currency in commerce from the payer to the payee with wire transfers, plastic cards, electronic payments, and with the old-fashioned but still widely used checkbook. If a bank fails because it has made bad loans, all of that deposit currency is lost.
Economic Devastation Will Result From The Coming Bank Collapses
Even if a bank doesn’t fail but simply stops operating, as we are seeing in Greece at the moment, the economy grinds to a halt, which is Greece’s plight while its banks are closed. The ramifications are profound when most commerce stops. Businesses that are not prepared collapse along with the economy, and if they have loans outstanding, their collapse worsens the outlook for the banks. Also, government tax revenue grinds to a halt, making it even more difficult to cope with the country’s debt load.
The answer of course to this foolhardy way in which banking is practiced is to separate banks of credit – those that make loans – from banks of commerce – those that are responsible for payments. The best way to make payments is to use gold because when using a tangible asset as currency, you eliminate counterparty risk. Eliminating counterparty risk is right now the best thing that could happen to the global economy.
Do Not Store Your Gold And Silver In Banks
There is one last point to make about Greece, Eric. When the banks closed in Greece, people no longer had access to their gold and silver stored in safe-deposit boxes. For this reason, I always recommend not storing anything in any bank or any bank safe-deposit box. Don’t take risks with your physical gold and silver, which is the bedrock asset of everyone’s portfolio.”