• 526 days Will The ECB Continue To Hike Rates?
  • 526 days Forbes: Aramco Remains Largest Company In The Middle East
  • 528 days Caltech Scientists Succesfully Beam Back Solar Power From Space
  • 928 days Could Crypto Overtake Traditional Investment?
  • 933 days Americans Still Quitting Jobs At Record Pace
  • 935 days FinTech Startups Tapping VC Money for ‘Immigrant Banking’
  • 938 days Is The Dollar Too Strong?
  • 938 days Big Tech Disappoints Investors on Earnings Calls
  • 939 days Fear And Celebration On Twitter as Musk Takes The Reins
  • 941 days China Is Quietly Trying To Distance Itself From Russia
  • 941 days Tech and Internet Giants’ Earnings In Focus After Netflix’s Stinker
  • 945 days Crypto Investors Won Big In 2021
  • 945 days The ‘Metaverse’ Economy Could be Worth $13 Trillion By 2030
  • 946 days Food Prices Are Skyrocketing As Putin’s War Persists
  • 948 days Pentagon Resignations Illustrate Our ‘Commercial’ Defense Dilemma
  • 949 days US Banks Shrug off Nearly $15 Billion In Russian Write-Offs
  • 952 days Cannabis Stocks in Holding Pattern Despite Positive Momentum
  • 953 days Is Musk A Bastion Of Free Speech Or Will His Absolutist Stance Backfire?
  • 953 days Two ETFs That Could Hedge Against Extreme Market Volatility
  • 955 days Are NFTs About To Take Over Gaming?
What's Behind The Global EV Sales Slowdown?

What's Behind The Global EV Sales Slowdown?

An economic slowdown in many…

How The Ultra-Wealthy Are Using Art To Dodge Taxes

How The Ultra-Wealthy Are Using Art To Dodge Taxes

More freeports open around the…

Peter Schiff

Peter Schiff

Schiff Gold

Peter Schiff is an economist and investment advisor specializing in the foreign equity, currency, and gold markets. He became internationally known by successfully forecasting the…

Contact Author

  1. Home
  2. Markets
  3. Other

Video: Dollars, Drachmas, and Debt

Why might Greece abandon the euro and re-adopt the drachma? Peter Schiff argues that the drachma would be a politically expedient way of defaulting on Greek debt, but would ultimately lead to financial ruin for Greek citizens. Peter believes that the only difference between Greece and the United States is that US creditors still have faith in the dollar. However, it won't be long before the Federal Reserve makes the dollar as worthless as a drachma.

Timesthamp notes

0:19 - Greece gave up the drachma for the euro, so why would it re-adopt its old currency?

0:55 - Greek politicians knew they could borrow more money in euros than they could in drachmas, which is why Greece now has a debt problem.

2:05 - The Greek economy has failed, and Greece has two choices of how to default on its obligations.

2:32 - Greece can't default through inflation, because it cannot print euros.

3:18 - Government debt is not the only financial obligation of countries like Greece. Politicians make financial promises to their constituents, such as public pensions and health care.

4:11 - Politicians want to default on creditors, while continuing to pay the people who vote for them. The drachma is their solution.

4:55 - Greek citizens won't want drachmas. They'll convert their paychecks immediately into euros, dollars, or gold.

5:20 - The only difference between Greece and the United States is the perception of our creditors.

6:00 - The US already has a precedent for printing money, which is called quantitative easing.

7:02 - The Greek debt crisis will unfold in America when US creditors decide they don't want to accept an increasingly weak currency.

8:35 - Peter's advice is the same for Greeks and Americans. Convert your currency savings into something of tangible value that the government cannot create out of thin air - gold or silver.

 

Back to homepage

Leave a comment

Leave a comment