hi all, got a meseage from soninlaw today who is high up in banking world in london that euro is on verge of collapse.his parents have withdrawn their eur o savings from portugal,we only have an account in italy to pay our bills for our house in calabria so wont affect us.dont want to spread gossip,does anyone else know about this apart from the obvious irish news,as the euro has always ridden these storms,perhaps this is the last straw,cheers brian

I hope it doesn't collapse I have only just got used to the euro and I am too old to start learning the Lira.

Seriously though if you google 'Euro will collapse' there are articles prior to 2006 claiming the euro is about to collapse or will within the next six months.

I think the Euro zone has too much to lose, as has every nation that sells into the euro zone to allow it to just collapse.

In my humble opinion

Don't think it has ever been as bad as this though....Next to go will be Portugal, then probably Spain, then Italy.....God knows how they are going to stop it! Depends on how willing Germany is to keep bolstering it from what I can gather, while France, as usual, sits pretty waiting for help....

Fortunately I'm too old and too poor to let all this worry me any more.!
ciao for now,
'o nonno

I read an article some months back that suggested that rather than the euro just collapsing It is more likely that German will pull out of the Euro and go back to the German Mark. Thereby causing all the remaining countries to do the same.

What fun that will be.

Its fun Pecora - a jar of jam cost something like 1,975 lira and your monthly salary could be a million lira You cant go shopping without a calculator .

A MILLION LIRA Why didn't someone tell me.. Well in that case I hope it happens coz it is the only way I will ever be a millionaire.



Pecora LOADS OF MONEY Nera

then you can tell all your friends about all the millions you pay in taxes!

Nothing to add about the euro situation apart from watching and waiting like everyone else but this reminded me of the link you posted ages ago TR about googling French Military Victories - still laughing now at all their victories

Yes I like it too. Did you know that the UK and France now have a joint defence policy? Good old Blighty is throwing money at building 2 new aircraft carriers and looking at the next generation of nuclear sub.

While the French are throwing money at building 3 more white flag factories.

Some shops and restaurants still show the lira amount on receipts and it always looks like an amazing amount compared to the euro amount!

What is the Euro?

As far as I understand, Germany isn't bolstering the euro, it's protecting its own, especially in the case of Ireland. If the Irish banks default German banks will be badly hit. They are apparently the leading lenders, second only to US Banks. The PIGS (portugal,ireland, greece and spain) were always top of the list of the countries in trouble ...

If the euro were to fall apart, with Italy going back to the lire, this would have enormous implications for many people on here. It all depends on what you view as your home currency. (The southern european currencies would suffer a large overnight devaluation against their northern european counterparts).
Worst affected would include anyone owing a house here with a euro mortgage. In sterling or dollar terms the value of your house would likely fall by around 30%-50% and the financing costs in terms of the lire would increase by a similar percentage.
The big gainers would be anyone buying a house after such a devaluation. Prices around 30%-50% cheaper and a similar saving in mortgage costs.
A middle ground would exist, for those currently renting, those with an income in sterling or dollars, those paid in euros etc.
Personally, I hope the euro survives and Italy remains a part of it. I think most Italians do as well but if the markets are going to turn on Portugal after Ireland then Spain is next and after that Italy.

The PIGS I love it