I live in California. A vote for Romney is a total waste. He has ZERO chance of winning the state. (Same goes for you if you’re in New York or Illinois.)

So exactly how is that any different for me than voting for Gary Johnson?

Bitcoins have been MASSIVELY volatile in price. USD is the smart bet, or GBP if you’re not thinking straight.

they would have been pushed into Chapter 7 liquidation without the government capital and taken their supply chains with them.

Nope. Not even close to being right.

What? This isn’t about drug transactions. This is about ordinary Greeks who want a stable place to store their currency if the state-issued currency starts going to shit. Isn’t that what we are talking about? That’s what I was talking about. Wouldn’t those people naturally be interested in Bitcoins, and willing to convert their Drachmas to Bitcoins? I’m not sure I understand your argument.

That won’t be a problem. That’s why they’ll devalue the new currency. And by “Not a problem”, I don’t mean “Not a problem for the people trying to pay their bills.” Those people will be screwed.

The people trying to pay their bills will not have a problem and will be screwed? What? I’m not sure I follow? The point is that since you’ll need Drachmas to pay for many things there will be a demand for Drachmas by people with Bitcoins, even if the currency is starting to inflate.

Smart Greeks have already transferred their bank accounts to other countries in the EU, or have pulled out their cash in Euros and stashed it in their mattresses.

Would you trust Euros at this point in time? Sure Greece is in worse shape than Europe as a whole, but not by much. That’s the point of Bitcoins, its an international currency that won’t be affected by Europe exploding.

Police: Hug Triggers Officer’s Gun, Kills Woman

According to Stephens, the woman “embraced the officer from behind, causing the holstered weapon to accidently discharge.” The bullet punctured Miller’s lung and hit her heart, and she died at a hospital.

I call bullshit on this. The only possible way this could happen is with a cross draw, under arm holster with a revolver in it. Even then, the revolver would have to have been almost completely on the guy’s back in order to get a heart shot. It’s just impossible.

What really happened?

There will certainly be a method to convert Drachmas to Bitcoins if there is a demand for Bitcoins by people with Drachmas.

There will be a demand for the drachma to Bitcoin conversion…. and vice-versa too. Bit it’s small, it’s currency laundering for drug transactions. Now, I don’t have a dog in that fight… as far as I’m concerned, drugs should be legal. But the important consideration is that the total transaction level is small. The net demand for transfers will be totally lopsided on the drachma side. And that will drive it’s exchange rate to … well, sub optimal levels.

What about the other way? Well, in Greece you’ll need to pay taxes, utilities, and other things in Drachmas.

That won’t be a problem. That’s why they’ll devalue the new currency. And by “Not a problem”, I don’t mean “Not a problem for the people trying to pay their bills.” Those people will be screwed.

Smart Greeks have already transferred their bank accounts to other countries in the EU, or have pulled out their cash in Euros and stashed it in their mattresses. (So to speak.) But “Smart” doesn’t drive the human race, so there are still plenty of deposits left in Greek banks to be confiscated in the Euro/drachma conversion.

I don’t want to seem like a Gloomy Gus here, I really want to see this work out. But I just don’t think it will. To me? I think the solution is obvious: Greece needs to dump it’s long held political system of corruption and control and just let businesses operate.

I don’t see that happening. I think this will all end very badly.

That story doesn’t smell right. Why would a hug make a gun go off? Was the gun in a holster? Holstered guns don’t fire, that’s sort of the whole point of a holster. Was it not holstered? Did he just stuff it in his waistband? If so that is criminally negligent. I find it hard to believe a non-member of the brutalizing class in such a situation wouldn’t face some sort of criminal negligence charges in these circumstances.

Moreover, that aircraft only needs repainting and some minor internal adjustments (seating plans, etc.) which are routine. Changing over to a different production line for a factory is expensive and time consuming, and that assumes the factory is right for what you need in the first place!

Of course you want EVERYONE to be screwed over rather than just some, gotta get that share margin up!

It seems that my choice is to argue over whether to surrender my freedoms to the IRS…or to surrender them to the Commerce Department.

My question is this: Why can’t people (sic. especially in government) leave me the hell alone?

Er….training for what? Armageddon? Or passengers with too
much shampoo? If it’s the former, I’ll go with it.

That’s as succint and complete a definition of libertarianism as there is.

1. If you are a greek wanting a stable currency, and the government has cut off your easy ways to convert your local currency to foreign currency (exactly as you said in #36) you basically have one choice; the only currency exchange the government cannot shut down. There will certainly be a method to convert Drachmas to Bitcoins if there is a demand for Bitcoins by people with Drachmas.

2. What about the other way? Well, in Greece you’ll need to pay taxes, utilities, and other things in Drachmas. Anyone who currently has Drachmas but wants Bitcoins (because they have enough cash but want to save some from Weimarization) will want your Bitcoins. Thus exchange in both directions could happen. The exchange will only break down if it isn’t possible to buy goods or services with Drachmas. And if that is the case you are fucked regardless.

Bob,

You wrote: “You can’t get a foreign country’s money unless it’s made available to you by the banks in YOUR country… You can’t arbitrarily say “Hey! My account is in USD now!”

Actually it’s quite easy to do that very thing with E-Trade, Scottrade, etc. I live in the U.S. but I always keep some money denominated in Canadian, Australian, Swedish, Swiss. It’s like Matt said. When the need arises you switch back to dollars at the current rate, having avoided most of the devaluation that came between.

Of course there is some political risk of confiscation in the event of a major economic collapse, but that’s just unavoidable. If I were a Greek looking to save some money (not too many of those running around), I’d be happy to risk that before taking some of the other options available to me.

That’s all well and good when the exchange rates are stable, but as soon as inflation (Or hyperinflation) rears it’s ugly head in your local currency… that’s all over.

When you have currency in a brokerage account like E-Trade or Scottrade, etc. It’s not actual currency. It’s a number in an account. Every actor involved (You, the brokerage company, the companies THEY are dealing with…) are subject to their local government’s laws and problems.

It’s easy to convert currency when the conditions are stable… but when the shit hits the fan, that stability is over. You can’t just switch from one currency to another if the one your switching FROM is one no one wants.