|
A Monday Morning Musing from Mickey the
Mercenary Geologist
Frankly,
I don’t get it. The Euro, the
currency without a country, has been nothing more and nothing less than
an abject fiat fiasco since April 30, 2010 when the first Greek panic attack
hit the stock markets. It was soon followed by the infamous fat finger flash
crash that sent world equities on a three-hour wild ride that would make Mr.
Toad proud.
The
so-called “Greek Crisis” has come back again and again to upset
the market (e.g., in late May to early June of both 2011 and 2012).
It’s almost like one of those turistas that
the unfortunate with less than robust digestive systems seem to acquire every
time they cross an international border, especially one to the south.
Luckily, yo tengo un estomago de fierro, certainly beneficial given my
peripatetic itinerary.
Nevertheless,
the Greeks have remained the focus of the world’s considerable economic
worries for the past two years. According to all the politicians, banksters, bureaucrats, and lock-step media, our entire
financial world is facing a terrible, looming, and imminent crisis solely because the bankrupt
Greeks, with their broken nanny-state government, refuse to pay taxes, give
up their welfare benefits, and live within their necessarily lessened means.
But
wait just a New York minute. My Webster’s 3rd Edition New World
Collegiate Dictionary defines a crisis as “a decisive or critical
moment”. Other than reference to the geological scale, how can over 27
months, 836 days to be exact, equate to a “moment” in time?
Greece
has the 32nd largest economy in the world; that’s below such
well-known economic powerhouses as Venezuela, Iran, and Thailand. In reality,
Greece could go tits-up tomorrow and the real world of commerce and industry
would scarcely miss a beat. Hells Bells, even the slightly smaller economy of
Chile produces better olive oil. Now if Chile were to fail, we would be in
trouble minus 35% of global copper production. But Greece, are you kidding
me?
I
am simply confounded by the inane idea that a bankrupt, second world,
union-ridden, social welfare state can move the global equities markets in
and out of panic mode for well over two years.
The
real answer is that it should not and I simply refuse to buy into this
multi-media missive being spoon-fed like pabulum to the infantile masses. At
least no one gets the turistas
from ingesting that bland concoction and perhaps that’s why few seem to
question the message about the Greeks and their fat cat bottoms-up leaders.
The
European currency is diseased and dying a slow death; its demise is destined.
The idea of a common fiat currency with no sovereign government backing was a
fatally flawed concept since its inception. But why is the blame game being
put solely on the Greeks? The Italians, Spaniards, and Portuguese arguably
are no better off in the eurozone, and the former
two are much large economies.
Furthermore,
the United States of America is running a debt load that is projected to
exceed its GDP this year. The difference is that the United States is simply too big to fail.
With
the demise of the Euro, what fiat currency would you choose to hold other
than the good ol’ US of A greenback? A case
can be made to allocate some portion of your net assets to resource-based
economies in the English-speaking world, e.g., the Australian and Canadian
dollars.
But
this fact remains: The world’s reserve currency is the American dollar
and it’s been that way since Breton Woods in 1944.
What
can / should / will replace it? I eagerly solicit your suggestions.
Have
you a yearning for yen or yuan? Would you
realistically reconsider the rand, real, renminbi, rial, riel, riyal, ringgit, ruble, rufiyaa, rupee, or
rupiah? Posiblemente una
canasta de pa’angas, pesos, pesetas, pounds,
y pulas?
Naw, I didn’t think so.
Rest
assured that any of the above currencies will not become the new world
monetary standard. The widely promoted gold standard would be absolute
disaster for the sole reason of inadequate supply. We cannot explore,
discover, develop, and mine enough gold to keep up with current global
economic growth.
Could
it be a basket of currencies or a basket of commodities? Perhaps, but that
likely would entail an elongated episode of economic turmoil that none of us
would relish. When the US sneezes, the rest of the globe still catches cold.
I’ll
willingly change my mind about the United States dollar when some cabbie
refuses to accept a crisp new Franklin pulled from my money clip for an
airport to hotel taxi ride somewhere in the second or third world, current
European-centric countries with their funny money necessarily excluded.
That
hasn’t happened yet and I won’t be holding my breath until it
does. I suggest that you don’t either.
The
world continues to operate on the US $ and in my opinion, that’s not
going to change in the foreseeable future. Like this or not, get used to it,
forget the frigging Greeks, and let’s get on with business.
P.S.
I suggest you keep at least 10% of your net assets in physical gold and in
your physical possession to ensure and hedge against all eventualities. Gold
is money and the ultimate protection against the vagaries of our fiat
currency and fractional reserve banking system.
Ciao for now,
Mickey
Fulp
The
Mercenary Geologist
Miningcompanyreport.com
The Mercenary Geologist Michael S. “Mickey” Fulp is a
Certified Professional Geologist with a B.Sc. Earth Sciences with honor from
the University of Tulsa, and M.Sc. Geology from the University of New Mexico.
Mickey has 30 years experience as an exploration geologist searching for
economic deposits of base and precious metals, industrial minerals, coal,
uranium, and water in North and South America and China.
Mickey has worked for junior explorers, major mining companies, private
companies, and investors as a consulting economic geologist for the past 22 years,
specializing in geological mapping and property evaluation. In addition to
Mickey’s professional credentials and experience, he is high-altitude
proficient and is bilingual in English and Spanish. From 2003 to 2006, Mickey
made four outcrop ore discoveries in Peru, Nevada, Chile, and British
Columbia.
Mickey is well known throughout the mining and exploration community for his
ongoing work as an analyst for public and private companies, investment
funds, newsletter and website writers, private investors, and brokers.
|