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by JR8 » Fri, 21 Aug 2015 5:29 pm
I agree with much of what he says in this article. Particularly about the Long-Term Buy and Hold (LTBH) perspective required for a retiree, or someone saving towards their pension. I.e. sh*t happens and will keep on happening, don't worry about it, be diversified and keep on investing.
One point I think rather misses the mark though, in that it seems too narrow and simplistic:
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'The Greek economy, measured by GDP per capita, is comparable to the smallest U.S. state economy, Mississippi.
Much larger state economies have had terrible problems in recent years, including "big" states such as California and Indiana, and nobody predicted a global cataclysm would result.'
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The Greek economy is small, but, the EU and euro are only as strong as their weakest link. The EU is fundamentally unworkable as you do not have cross-border fiscal transfers. The US functions, at least in part because they have such a deeply developed AND popularly accepted trans-national support mechanisms.
Furthermore right behind Greece is Portugal and Spain, with rumblings from Italy. So rather than 'domestic problems in Minnesota', we have the EU riven as a whole. When CA declared bankruptcy did Washington DC threaten to throw then out the union? Did CA have a vote on whether to leave? Did CA's desire to leave become an electoral issue on the East Coast with the richer more blue-stocking states threatening to summarily eject CA from the union? For CA to volunteer that in fact they intended to leave anyway, then to be told they couldn't leave, or they would be (intentionally) destroyed? Did the CA legislature opt for re-election right after their last one a couple of months previously, to get returned into office, but then [today] have their party split into two? Back to the drawing board again.
No, I think the situation is very different!
p.s. What a complete f'in mess the EU is!
'Do it or do not do it: You will regret both' - Kierkegaard