Survival of the Slickest

If you still have a stash of Deutschmarks or French Francs under your bed, my advice to you is don’t burn them just yet, you could be the envy of your neighbours because if the Spanish economy should collapse as happened in Greece, it is hardly likely that the Euro will hold together and you will be laughing all the way to the bank.

I apologise for a doom and gloom rhetoric this week (for those of you who haven’t  got a stash of Deutschmarks or Francs under the bed) but there are financial gurus out there, in what they call the real world, who believe that Spain’s economy, (19% of its workforce unemployed) is in deeper trouble their Central Bank cares to openly admit. Of course it would help if they could devalue their currency to encourage more tourism or increase their exports but this is not possible because their currency’s value is geared up to Germany and France's strong economy. Nor can Spain cut its interest rates because such matters can only be decided by the European Central Bank in Frankfurt and at present there is little chance of it doing this at present.

I am not betting on Spain’s chances of survival (typical Euro sceptic you will be saying) but I can see it now. It will be like the old halcyon times; our passports at the ready and our wallets lined with  GBP traveller’s cheques ready to be changed for  old and crumpled Peseta, Drachma and depending on Portugal’s economic survival, Escudo bank notes, as we embark once again on affordable continental holidays. Of course, this also depends on the UK economy surviving.

On a less serious note, I read that Warren Buffett, that modest multi-billionaire, who alternates with Bill Gates as being the world’s richest man came up with a tongue in cheek answer to our financial problems in his latest shareholder’s letter. He advised his followers  to,  "Sing a country song in reverse, and you will quickly recover your car, house, and wife."