It Can't Happen Here......but it can................
Posted on 03/25/2013 1:19:16 PM PDT by jazusamo
The decision of the government in Cyprus to simply take money out of people's bank accounts there sent shock waves around the world. People far removed from that small island nation had to wonder: "Can this happen here?"
The economic repercussions of having people feel that their money is not safe in banks can be catastrophic. Banks are not just warehouses where money can be stored. They are crucial institutions for gathering individually modest amounts of money from millions of people and transferring that money to strangers whom those people would not directly entrust it to.
Multi-billion dollar corporations, whose economies of scale can bring down the prices of goods and services — thereby raising our standard of living — are seldom financed by a few billionaires.
Far more often they are financed by millions of people, who have neither the specific knowledge nor the economic expertise to risk their savings by investing directly in those enterprises. Banks are crucial intermediaries, which provide the financial expertise without which these transfers of money are too risky.
There are poor nations with rich natural resources, which are not developed because they lack either the sophisticated financial institutions necessary to make these key transfers of money or because their legal or political systems are too unreliable for people to put their money into these financial intermediaries.
Whether in Cyprus or in other countries, politicians tend to think in short run terms, if only because elections are held in the short run. Therefore, there is always a temptation to do reckless and short-sighted things to get over some current problem, even if that creates far worse problems in the long run.
(Excerpt) Read more at creators.com ...
That’s why inflation is a politician’s favorite tax.
(9 out of 10 sheeple will blame the gas station/oil company for the higher cost)
Not a lot of difference - maybe none...
There’s a joke going around South Cyprus right now.
A man walks into a bank in Nicosia.
A bank teller pulls out a pistol and says, “Hand’s up! This is a robbery!!”
They can pretty much do that now, as long as they don't do it too often.
politicians tend to think in short run terms, if only because elections are held in the short run. Therefore, there is always a temptation to do reckless and short-sighted things to get over some current problem, even if that creates far worse problems in the long run.
This shoulc be carved in stone some where.
T.Sowell bump!
If only the first black President were in Thomas Sowell’s league. *Sigh*
They got the idea from the Banksters. Basically, when one of the member farms was up for foreclosure, they would turn out a crowd of people to bid on everything up for sale and basically buy everything back for pennies on the dollar and return it to the farmer. The debt and foreclosure thus discharged, the banks had no further recourse.
I asked him what happened when outsiders came to the auction to scoop up bargains. He told me they would take them quietly to the barn or other outbuilding where a noose was dangling from the rafters or, sometimes, a freshly butchered hog was hanging on a meat hook. They were then asked if they really felt it was a good idea to bid with all the Holiday Association members there. Most of the time, they took the hint and left. If they stayed, it was to observe and not to bid.
It Can't Happen Here......but it can................
IF THEY TAKE MONEY OUT OF OUR ACCOUNTS LIKE THIS IT’S TO THE STREETS!!
I see that joke morphing into “In Cyprus the bank robs you!”
In fact, the US government has already reneged on their currency several times.
1913 - creation of Federal Reserve with authority to issue fiat currency at will
1932 - gold confiscation and end of gold backing of the dollar for US persons despite explicit promises on printed on the currency itself
1965 - end of silver backing for dollar despite explicit promises printed on currency itself
1971 - end of the pretense of gold backing in international trade
2008 - TARP, QE1, QE2, QEternity
The fact is that a sound currency is not attractive to government.
Cyprus did have deposit insurance, though in fact “deposit insurance” - whether offered by the US or the Cypriot government - is a fraud.
Like Sowell says, the the FDIC and depositors can pressure Congress to pressure the Fed to print more dollars. The quantity of dollars that the Fed can issue is limited only by the number supply. Certainly the US Fed can do better than Zimbabwe.
“There is a term for people who remove money out of people’s accounts without permission. They are called BANK ROBBERS.”
There’s also a term for people who issue fake money. They are called COUNTERFEITERS.
That's my distinct impression as well. It almost seems like these "too clever by half" b@$t@rds think they can steal money from the Russians who have flocked to deposit their money into Cypriot banks to avoid taxes in Russia, only to find that they were subject to thievery by off shore banks as well.
IMHO - nobody in their right mind would try to wholesale steal from the Russians, especially with an American government in place run by liberals who treat world disorder like my drunken brother in law constantly threatening his unruly children from the safety of his couch. The Russians may just decide that they're going to get their money back by taking over a nice little Mediterranean island.
I’m sure it can and will. Obama is just waiting to see if that tact will be successful in Cyprus. Why do you think Homeland Security is ordering up all that extra ammo? It’s certainly not to protect our borders.
Even with their bad aim, I would probably need some time to recover from the previous head wound.
Years ago I worked with a woman whose parents had a narrow squeak with that. She heard her parents discussing whether they should buy a car that weekend or wait until the following week. The father decided to buy the car that Friday, withdrew their entire savings, $600, and bought the car. The following Monday Roosevelt closed the banks and the other savers lost all their money.
Sorry, that is wrong.
Cyprus has deposit insurance up to €100,000.00. SOURCE
This solution was theft.
Theft of what government could steal, then they will let the banks default. Depositors will lose every penny over that 100k.
They were plotting to steal some of the insured money too, but we will need to see how that plays out.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.