This is a note to myself: I have to think something till Sunday morning since there is an ongoing bank run in Europe that will reach soon Tel Aviv. Stanley Fischer is already preparing local banks to that event.
From MoneyWatch:
It used to be that you knew a bank run was under way when you saw crowds outside a bank trying to get in and get their money. This is another thing that online banking seems to have gotten rid of. Despite the lack of crowds, many analysts believe what had been a "jog" by big European investors (with the exception of Germany) is now a sprint.
In Greece, Ireland, and Portugal, foreign deposits have fallen by an average of 52 percent, and foreign government bond holdings by an average of 33 percent, from their peaks. The same move in Spain and Italy, taking into account the fall that has taken place already, would imply a further $272.17 billion and $270.9 billion in capital flight respectively.
What to do?
13 comments:
In the end, all fiat currencies can be confiscated or lose their value by government decree. The only safety is to buy precious metals, diamonds, etc. and hide them in a place the socialists can't find. At the very least, everyone at this point should have a "rainy day stash" put away so that at least you'll have money to buy food if things really go south. I used to think my son was insane when he said stuff like this but now I'm not so sure.
K
A bank run is not the end of the world. And I'll send you Nescafe by post.
A sheynam dank. I remember we used to mail Nescafe to my uncle in Ra'anana - everything that goes round, comes round. They would write to each other in Yiddish on aerograms which were these flimsy pieces of paper that folded up into an envelope. I wonder if they still even exist?
It's not the end of the world unless you have all your money in that bank and the bank folds. This happened a lot in the US during the last depression, before government deposit insurance (FDIC).
K
There are no more aerograms and I haven't seen an air envelope a long time.
On a second thought, Israeli Nescafe would not pass American customs, because it is food and theoretically it may carry coffee plant parasites. Sorry. But I can send second hand schmattes for your daughter, we have plenty.
We used to receive Gilette blades in letters, but I dont know if they still manufacture it.
Should things go really bad in the Silicon Valley, your son and other declassé yidn will be fed by the JOINT free lunch kitchen. You can rely on Jewish solidarity.
Yes, I checked and aerograms are gone the way of the Dodo - I guess you send emails instead. Letter writing in general is dead.
Razor blades are having a revival - there is a new generation of enthusiasts that prefer them to the fancy 5 blade plastic things. They are still made (one of the popular brands is from Israel and there are "Sharks" from Egypt.
My daughter is very tall - 178 cm, so I hope your daughter's schmattes fit should the need arise. It would be embarrassing to wear clothes that are too short.
K
K
Yes, I checked and aerograms are gone the way of the Dodo - I guess you send emails instead. Letter writing in general is dead.
Razor blades are having a revival - there is a new generation of enthusiasts that prefer them to the fancy 5 blade plastic things. They are still made (one of the popular brands is from Israel and there are "Sharks" from Egypt.
My daughter is very tall - 178 cm, so I hope your daughter's schmattes fit should the need arise. It would be embarrassing to wear clothes that are too short.
K
K
On an unrelated note, I just attended my niece's graduation from a posh private school. The valedictorian was from S. Korea and will be attending Princeton. Some Korean families move their wives and children to the US for high school so they can get into a top US school. But, the boy was supposed to give a speech and he had zero charisma, negative charisma, a black hole of charisma. The minute he began speaking, people in the audience began chatting with each other so you could hardly hear him - they instantly sensed his betaness and felt free to afford him no respect. The boy tried a few inside jokes about teachers and such (normally sure winners) and he didn't even get a laugh from his fellow graduates for those. Just a few seconds of polite applause when the speech was over - the minimum the crowd could get away with. It's clear that academic excellence is not everything. His English was perfect, the delivery was OK, on paper the speech looked pretty good (they printed the prepared text in the school paper) but somehow everyone could sense that he was a zero.
My son also spoke at his high school graduation (as elected class president not valedictorian) and I though he gave a good speech, but I am not objective on this. I saw the speech replayed month later on the local cable access channel and I STILL thought it was a good speech, but I'm still not objective.
K
Alpha and beta in the academic biology sense are totally different from their use in Game concepts.
K,
Why wasn't your niece or someone with Jewish ancestry giving that speech? The decline of Jewish academic success in the past generation suggests to me that much of American Jewish accomplishment in prior generations was the result of immigrant striving and belief in the power of hard work rather than the result of superior intelligence. Intermarriage cannot be blamed. The academic decline goes back farther, and I met plenty of fully Jewish (Ashkenazi) slackers and dolts as a child 25 years ago.
My niece (my wife's brother's daughter) is only 1/2 Jewish and looks like a perfect Aryan girl. I agree with you that a lot of American Jewish success was 1st generation striving. The sons of today's Asian valedictorians can be slackers too. A few WASPS know the secret...one of the honorees at the graduation today is an heir to the Woolworth's fortune ... they are going on maybe the 5th or 6th generation of money and haven't lost it yet.
K
My third daughter is 173 cm so her discarded schmattes may be adapted with some creative and timeconsuming sewing. When time comes, you may have no electricity so I'll include in the packet some half burnt candles and matches too.
I think I still have my mother's sewing machine with the foot treadle, so it should be no problem.
K
K,
Gold is not a very optimal investment. I recommend John Robb's blog, Global Guerrillas, for insights on the best investment for this kind of systemic degradation-resilient communities. Gold is OK, but a group of people who have a spectrum of practical skills and physical assets to contribute to maintaining a decent living standard is far superior.
Incidentally, are you looking to marry your daughter off? I'll be in Israel this fall, and it's about time for me to start looking. Same goes for you, J.
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