From Conversations With Casey:

I’ve been surprised that the first of [currency union] currencies, the euro, has lasted as long as it has. It was officially adopted in 1999, though not put into actual circulation as bank notes and coins until 2002. It started out with a theft, in that the old currencies that people had were only good for another three years. After that, your deutschmarks, guilders, francs, and what-have-you were good only for wallpaper. If you had any stuffed under your mattress, you found out what their intrinsic value was.

But the euro that’s replaced them, too, is backed by nothing. Nothing but the good faith and credit of the participating governments which are all going bankrupt. The problems in the EU aren’t just with Greece, Italy, and Spain; Britain and France are being downgraded, and its going to get much worse.

…If the dollar is an “IOU nothing,” the euro is a “who owes you nothing.” When it collapses, a lot of people are going to suffer a big wealth haircut. Bernie Madoff swindled thousands of people out of billions. The euro will swindle millions of people out of trillions.

…The average urban peasant in Europe thinks his government is somehow watching out for him. I suppose that’s true, at least the way a dairyman watches his cows, or a swineherd watches his pigs. But the euro really is backed by nothing. Though, at the moment, you could say it’s backed by Mercedes cars and Gucci bags… anything you can trade euros for. But that’s for a limited time. I’m absolutely convinced the euro is going to fall apart it

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