A "short" history lesson for readers...
After World War I, Great Britain and France forced the weaker and financially unstable government of Wiemar Germany to make reparations. After all, Germany had given the blank check to the Serbs in essence causing a great chain reaction of treaties which hurled Europe into a war. However, it was the peace treaty and reparations that truly caused a breakdown in the newly established post-war world order. Germany could not pay its debts, yet Great Britain and France continued to push Germany until Wiemar played its last card, and that was hyper-inflation. When savings were wiped out, and debt crises swept through Europe most governments elected to withdraw and tend to internal issues. However in Germany a leader rose to restore Germany's greatness, and his name was Hitler.
While the PIG nations of Europe have not quite fallen completely apart, the European Union's arm-twisting measures forced Greeks to swallow some difficult austerity measures. Don't be shocked to see, Spain, Ireland and Portugal follow suit. Socialism sounded great 40-50 years ago. Guaranteed jobs... public healthcare for all, and yes free rides for those who do not or cannot work. However, reality suggests that governments cannot create a nanny state, and expect its people to prosper, innovate, and fund government obligations with tax monies. Countries like Germany and France have to answer tough nationalistic questions at home, and more importantly, remind its citizens why the Euro was such a great idea.
It Pays to Shop
People get lazy and often over-look the savings potential of shopping for a different insurance carrier. As my wife and I prepare for our big move, we decided it was time to check house and automobile rates. It was surprising to find that Allstate beat the competition by $300.00 a year on homeowner insurance with a deductible that was half as much as rival State Farm. Furthermore, Allstate also beat State Farm in the highly competitive auto-line rate. Not only did Allstate offer the same coverage for a lower rate, but we were rewarded for being accident-free by receiving a $200.00 break in our deductible amount. Insurance is a competitive business. But let's face it, your agent will rarely call you to lower your rate. A couple of emails can save you hundreds of dollars.
Poor Man's Gold...
I was quoted prices for silver this week. So far I have had quotes on buying silver for 6X face value all the way up to 12.9. But silver is showing signs of a break out, and if (and it's a big if) silver hits $20.00 an ounce, $23-25 is well within reach.
1 comment:
The Euro is finished. The question is how long will it take. Looks like Rogers was wrong.
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