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Ukraine Enters Hyperinflation: Currency Trading Halted, "Soon We Will Walk Around With Suitcases For Cash"

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Yesterday we summarized the most recent economic, political and social situation in Ukraine as follows:

"A year or so on from the last coup in Ukraine, Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Sergey Arbuzov told TASS, with growing popular discontent, "another state coup can’t be ruled out in Ukraine." As the cease-fire deal hangs torn and tattered in the Debaltseve winds, the nation is a mess: a new gas dispute looms as Gazprom demands upfront payments; capital controls have been tightened as the $17.5bn IMF loan may not be enough; and the central bank governor faces prosecution as the economy craters. All of these factors have driven massive outflows from Ukraine and the Hryvnia has crashed to over 33 to the USD - a record high (and 70% devaluation from the last coup)."

So as the Ukraine government watches its country go down in flames, with the blessings of the US State Department of course, it decided to take action. According to Reuters, with the hryvnia in free fall (see above) the central bank tried to call a halt on Wednesday by banning banks from buying foreign currency on behalf of their clients for the rest of this week.

Although banks could still trade with each other, by mid-morning there were no registered trades at any rate, leaving the currency in limbo. The previous day, the central bank rate based on reported trades had fallen 11 percent against the dollar.

Exchange kiosks on the streets in Kiev were selling limited amounts of dollars for 39 hryvnias, around 20 percent worse than the rates advertised in the windows of commercial banks where dollars were not available. This compares to the official rate of 33 USDUAH posted yesterday, a rate which will continue in freefall, now that the central bank has no more gold left to sell (it's mysteriously gone), and virtually no foreign reserves.

Following the closing of the FX market closing, the central bank has been able to artificially dictate the interbank rate, which it reduced from 32 to 24 hryvnias as of 12:45 p.m. local time. The artificial rate only affects exporters, who are forced to sell 75 percent of their foreign currency revenue to the National Bank at the rate.

Even the Ukraine government is shocked by what is going on: "I learned this morning on the Internet that the National Bank of Ukraine has, as usual on its own without any sort of consultations, made the decision to close the interbank currency market, which will absolutely not add to the stability of the national currency that the national bank is responsible for. This situation has a very complex and negative influence on the country's economy," Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said.

The Ukrainian National Bank chairwoman Valeriya Hontareva, however, contradicted the Prime Minister's statement. "We coordinate all administrative measures with the International Monetary Fund first, and only then implement them," Hontareva told reporters.

In short: total chaos, which is indicative of any country's collapse into the hyperinflationary abyss.

It gets better. According to RIA, on Tuesday, Ukrainian television channel Ukraina announced that with the new exchange rate, the minimum wage in Ukraine stands at around $42.90 per month, which according to the channel, is lower than in Ghana or Zambia. There are currently no plans to raise the minimum wage until December.

Behold hyperinflation: "Food prices among producers rose 57.1 percent, with the price for grains and vegetables rising 91 percent from January 2014 to January 2015, while the official inflation rate over the period totaled 28.5 percent. Meanwhile, Ukrainian consumers responded to economic difficulties by cutting their spending in hryvnias by 22.6 percent, which amounts to an almost 40 percent decrease in real consumption."

And the punchline: "A construction worker exchanging dollars at a kiosk in a grocery shop in return for a bag filled with thousands of hryvnia, laughed and told shoppers: "Soon we will have to walk around with suitcases for cash, like in the 1990s.""

Which is ironic, because the central banks of "developed world" nations, most of which are now facing over 300% debt to consolidated GDP, would define Ukraine's imminent hyperinflation with just one word: "success."

 

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Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:15 | 5826403 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

Bullish for luggage and wheel barrows?

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:18 | 5826418 GetZeeGold
GetZeeGold's picture

 

 

Time to add some zeros...

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:30 | 5826466 NoVa
NoVa's picture

The currency is called "Hernia" - WTF?

 

That is some funny shit.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:35 | 5826483 negative rates
negative rates's picture

Green shoots bitches, don't mind the maggots.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:46 | 5826517 swmnguy
swmnguy's picture

To revive another ZH oldie-but-goodie, "Green Sharts!"

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:53 | 5826543 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

But, but it's all PUTIN's fault, LOL.  The Ukraine is a joke that gets funnier each time you tell it.  Even the 3 stooges could do a better job than Porky and Yats

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:01 | 5826575 RafterManFMJ
RafterManFMJ's picture

It's time for them to back the Ukie currency with its Central Bank gold reserves!!

Oh, wait...

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:08 | 5826604 Muddy1
Muddy1's picture

"the central bank governor faces prosecution"

 

Do you mean that there are countries where bankers face prosecution for their malfeasence??????

What a novel idea.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:05 | 5826787 BaBaBouy
BaBaBouy's picture

Hey, I Gots' An Idea...Lets Start A WW3 Over This Relative Shithole Of A Place.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:38 | 5826960 Pinto Currency
Pinto Currency's picture

 

 

UK sending military advisors into Ukraine - expecting palladium supply issues from Russia to London's LPPM.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/feb/24/britain-to-send-military-...

China's supply of rare earth metals to the West also a question mark.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 12:11 | 5827107 SumTing Wong
SumTing Wong's picture

But the locals just laugh and say SSDD- same shit, different decade.

Imagine when this comes to the U.S. People don't remember past last year's American Idol. The sheeple will be fooked.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 12:18 | 5827129 Vampyroteuthis ...
Vampyroteuthis infernalis's picture

I wonder how the EU banks are going to feel when the default by proxy hits them. Roll in the tanks!!!

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 12:21 | 5827151 Soul Glow
Soul Glow's picture

All banks are connected.  Japan, US, Europe, even China needs the debt cycle to continue.  No one is blinking but the game of chicken is almost over.  A flock of Black Swan's cometh.

And a footnote a group of swans is a whiteness so it is said, "A whiteness of Black Swans".  Cool, huh?

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 12:58 | 5827365 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

What is even sadder, is seeing the USSA reduced to sponsoring regimes of  such obvious poor quality. By now, it is well known among the Europeans that the Ukraine's coup government (with apologies to JSwift) is composed of the most odious little vermin to have ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth Theirs is a truly disgusting example of everything that is wrong with government and psuedo capitalism.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 12:20 | 5827143 Soul Glow
Soul Glow's picture

It's crazy knowing it will collapse but we have no idea what it will look like.  Almost not worth spending time theororizing about it.  Might as well hit the bong and sit back.  We do have front row seats ;)

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 13:07 | 5827430 Stoploss
Stoploss's picture

I's got, it's I's gots.  It's in Ebonics 101...

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:47 | 5827023 jaxville
jaxville's picture

  Nothing quite like a loss of credibility to get the monetary velocity going.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 13:03 | 5827394 ATM
ATM's picture

He faces prosecution because the real bureaucrats need to save face and create a scapegoat. 

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:09 | 5826611 wallstreetapost...
wallstreetaposteriori's picture

You would think some MFs would buy some gold....but no that is so 2010.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 16:50 | 5828500 mkkby
mkkby's picture

Nobody is going to trade gold for worthless hernias, which is what you get when you try to push the wheel barrow. 

I don't believe the construction worker story.  The economy there is, or soon will be, at a stand still unless someone has dollars or euro.  No business person is going to trade a valuable good for a suitcase full of paper.  It is unwieldy, expensive to get rid of, and falling in value every hour.

Maybe they should call it the hyena, because you are howling at the moon if you think it's worth something.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 18:44 | 5828986 Al Tinfoil
Al Tinfoil's picture

After Gazprom shuts off the natural gas because Kiev is not paying for gas received, the western Ukrainian lucky enough to have bushel baskets full of Hryvnia will be using them to heat the house.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:26 | 5826668 Paveway IV
Paveway IV's picture

Ukraine Accuses Russia of Destroying the Hryvnya Through Counterefiting

A TV finance show made the accusation. I'm guessing it runs on the TV station that Porky owns.

Source in Ukrainian

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:39 | 5826738 earnulf
earnulf's picture

Actually, that is a tried and true tactic of war, counterfiet the other sides money and spread bundles of it around to destroy their economy.    Russia has the expertise to do so and has probably done so, not to mention counterfieting Dollars and Euros.   Not that they did (but they would be stupid not to)

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:05 | 5826847 Oldrepublic
Oldrepublic's picture

The Nazis made very high quality counterfeit British pound notes during WW II, they paid off a very high level agent with them in Ankara,Turkey during the war. I think the operation was called Cicero

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 13:00 | 5827375 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

It wouldn't surprise if one of the Ukie oligarchs and/or politicians was behind the counterfeiting scheme.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:40 | 5826997 El Vaquero
El Vaquero's picture

"It aint worth a continental!"

 

We printed too much back then, but IIRC, the Brits helped that devaluation along nicely.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 12:07 | 5827096 cheech_wizard
cheech_wizard's picture

Didn't the CIA Director fly into Kiev with pallets full of hundred dollar bills? Who needs to counterfeit when you own the printing press?

As for Ukraine's currency... let's quickly follow the paper trail.

One hryvnya banknotes were printed by the Canadian Bank Note Company in 1992. Two, five and ten hryvnya banknotes were printed two years later. Until introduction into circulation the banknotes were kept in Canada.

The Canadian Bank Note Company is a Canadian security printing company. It is probably best known for being one of two private companies holding contracts with the Bank of Canada to supply it with Canada's banknotesFrom 1897 until 1923, CBN was a unit of the New York-based American Bank Note Company. It has since been based in OttawaOntario. In October 2006, RR Donnelley completed acquisition of Canadian Bank Note's financial printing business, consisting of documentation for initial public offerings...

RR Donnelley is a Fortune 500 company that provides print and related services. Its corporate headquarters are located at 111 S. Wacker Drive,Chicago, Illinois, USA.

 



Wed, 02/25/2015 - 13:38 | 5827609 tired1
tired1's picture

Ukraine also has problems with $100 super notes. The usual story is that the Norks were doing the printing. As of late the story is somewhat changed and there may be another source.

Also, some of the ME mercs are comlaining about being aid with phoney Benny Bucks (the irony).

I'm not waiting for conformation from MSM just like I'm not waiting for CNN to write about the two Brit planes being shot down by Iraqis for trying to supply ISIS.

Iraqi Army Downs 2 UK Planes Carrying Weapons for ISIL

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13931204001534

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 12:19 | 5827132 zvzzt
zvzzt's picture

no need for russians involvement. ukraine government is very capable itself to destroy their currency..... 

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:06 | 5826594 Lanka
Lanka's picture

Fire Sale on Ukrainian Brides and Grooms.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:50 | 5826762 Son of Loki
Son of Loki's picture

I'd love to buy two [or three!] of those gorgeous Ukrainian women for my "brides" but my Mom would complain; not enough room in th ebasement for them she'd say for sure.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:56 | 5826808 Never One Roach
Never One Roach's picture

Tell yur Mom it's for a good humanitarian cause. You can always try going to your Dad; he might be more understanding ::))

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:23 | 5826922 Crash Overide
Crash Overide's picture

I feel bad for the people... the common folk seem to always get the worst of it.

I bet there is another coup within 3 months, if it takes that long.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 13:02 | 5827380 Latina Lover
Latina Lover's picture

I also feel sorry for the locals. If it wasn't for the USSA and EU, they would be living without hyperinflation or war.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 14:34 | 5827879 juantrades
juantrades's picture

Count me in

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 13:38 | 5827604 Jack Burton
Jack Burton's picture

We coordinate all administrative measures with the International Monetary Fund first, and only then implement them," Hontareva told reporters.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:54 | 5826549 RaceToTheBottom
RaceToTheBottom's picture

Too bad that they don't have any gold remaining.  This would be the time they could use it.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:03 | 5826841 Max Steel
Max Steel's picture

If hryvna was 8 to the USD and is now 30, then I say it has fallen 275%. Some people claim it is wrong to say so, because a currency cannot fall more than 100%, that is, down to zero. But in fact when we say it has “fallen 275%”, we mean that its value relative to the dollar has negatively changed by 275%. – When 1 becomes 2, then it has grown by 100%, when 2 becomes 1 then it has fallen by 50%. 
 Ukrainian financial system is in complete meltdown. Currency has fallen to 30 against the dollar (from 8 a year ago).

Ukraine will need a new currency

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:12 | 5826872 cigarEngineer
cigarEngineer's picture

formula is: (8-30)/30

Which yields the same result as the currency in dollar terms: (.03-.125)/.125

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 12:31 | 5826963 Max Steel
Max Steel's picture

Yup . A friend of mine is living in kyiv and earning in dollars . He is leading a fab life 

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:56 | 5827059 jaxville
jaxville's picture

  Steel ....  I wonder if the EU will go that far?  I suspect they would rather have five million more gypsies in the EU rather than admit Ukraine, much less give (lend) them Euros to use.

 Ukrainians are just being used and are fools to buy into Western promises.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 12:28 | 5827191 Max Steel
Max Steel's picture

Jax EU will certainly go that far because they don't think beyond fulfilling usa interests . Considering Ukies cheap labor even I can't understand how much cheap labor Western Eruope will abosrb ? Western europeans will endup loosing jobs in their own nation .

I agree ukies have been chucked  under a bus by west .

full figures for Russia's trade balance in 2014 are in.
Dollar surplus grew to 189bn from 182bn. ( http://www.gks.ru/bgd/free/b04_03/IssWWW.exe/Stg/d05/35.htm )

 

Countries:
1. China 88bn -0.5%
2. Netherlands 73bn -3.6%
3. Germany 70bn -6.5%
4. Italy 48bn -10%
5. Belarus 32bn -7.8%
6. Turkey 31bn -5%
7 Japan 31bn -7.3%
8. USA 29bn +5.6%
9. Ukraine 28bn -29.6%
10. Korea 27bn +8.5%

Actually Ukraine wasn't the biggest loser... that went to Switzerland, 7bn -39.7%.

 National Bank of Ukraine tightened capital controls ( http://top.rbc.ru/finances/23/02/2015/54eb188f9a7947ad40d6e370


Wed, 02/25/2015 - 12:20 | 5827145 DaveA
DaveA's picture

The natural log of 30/8 is 1.32, so use that. Even better, you could say that the currency "fell by 132 centilogs". This method has two advantages:

* If the currency later rises 132 centilogs, it'll be back where it started. Whereas if your stocks lose 50% then gain 50%, you're still down 25%.

* For small changes, a centilog is close to a percent, e.g. +10 clog = +10.517%, -10 clog = -9.516%

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:08 | 5826857 Surveyor4Pres
Surveyor4Pres's picture

Whatever happened to the NAZI gold found by The Monuments Men in WWII?

I'm sure that Ukraine's gold has already been "repatriated" to the US and/or George Soros, by now.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:38 | 5826981 Againstthelie
Againstthelie's picture

Nazi gold = German gold = Goyim gold.

You know, to whom everything belongs...

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 14:50 | 5827962 flapdoodle
flapdoodle's picture

I thought all the gold in Monuments Men was from the gold fillings of the victims of the Holohoax, so of course it really belongs to Israel?

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:39 | 5826984 Thirst Mutilator
Thirst Mutilator's picture

It fell into the hands of Grant_Heslov who used it to pay George Clooney & Matt Damon to do a stupid movie.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:40 | 5826495 new game
new game's picture

usduah, duh. how to kill an economy. only cost 5 billion plus another billion of arms funneled in.

such a deal. now we can enter the vacuum with hope and change and liberate all those pesky russians that don't want merican/nato hope and change. 

let the people determine the outcome. one can only image the outcome.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:56 | 5826559 Paveway IV
Paveway IV's picture

Porky will declare martial law soon, to be followed by his own frantic escape from the hell-hole he created (probably to Belgium or Switzerland).

Good thing he held on to the chocolate biz, bus maker and TV stations. There's no more money in government, anymore.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 14:19 | 5827801 tired1
tired1's picture

Ukraine Signs Defense Deal With UAE

ABU DHABI — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced a deal for unspecified military and technical cooperation with the UAE on Tuesday, and said negotiations are ongoing with the United States and unspecified European nations.

The deal is a sign that Ukraine is not only seeking, but finding defense industry partners outside the region as it wages an uphill fight against Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

http://www.defensenews.com/story/breaking-news/2015/02/24/ukraine-signs-... other news: Porky pokes bear with stick, again.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 15:01 | 5828008 Paveway IV
Paveway IV's picture

"...The deal is a sign that Ukraine is not only seeking, but finding defense industry partners [welfare] outside the region..."

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 17:10 | 5828596 mkkby
mkkby's picture

Ukie has no reserves in either gold or harder currenies, so any foreign "partners" were found and paid off by the US.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:18 | 5826419 Haus-Targaryen
Haus-Targaryen's picture

Mr- Yellen is jealous with envy.  Looking forward to CNBC and CNN jumping up and down about how this is the end of the Ukrainian currency. 

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:21 | 5826433 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

Well, at least they don't have to worry about deflation, right? Winning all the way!

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:22 | 5826441 USisCorrupt
USisCorrupt's picture

America is capable of doing GREAT things for other Countries.

 

Ukraine is PROOF!

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:09 | 5826609 tarsubil
tarsubil's picture

In Soviet America, we buy it, we break it.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:18 | 5826893 JRobby
JRobby's picture

Then we cast it aside and go out and buy another one.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 12:38 | 5827221 Dame Ednas Possum
Dame Ednas Possum's picture

Yet another society converterd into a GREAT, super-sized pile of shit compliments of unkle sam the anal rapist and his tribe of weird friends. .

Do you want lies with that?

Y'all have a nice civil war now.

See you again in another decade or so...

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 12:36 | 5827223 Dame Ednas Possum
Dame Ednas Possum's picture

.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:38 | 5826730 pods
pods's picture

The funny thing about that is that the money IN the wheelbarrow won't BUY the wheelbarrow.

pods

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:25 | 5826928 BandGap
BandGap's picture

That is very fucking funny.

What a fucked up show we are watching, taking notes to pass along to the grand kids. Too bad a lot of people are going to perish when the music stops.

 

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 13:39 | 5827615 shouldvekilledthem
shouldvekilledthem's picture

I find it very entertaining that most people cannot comprehend this and even here on zh they believe that cash is the way to go.

The population deserves what's coming.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:31 | 5826472 Eeyores Enigma
Eeyores Enigma's picture

What doesn't make any sense is where are people supposed to get suitcases and wheelbarrows full of cash? Do all the employers raise wages at the same rate as inflation? 

I think it is all Bull$hit.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:33 | 5826478 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

Those who have it spend it. Everyone else either stands in bread lines or steals. Its called societal breakdown.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:35 | 5826480 Haus-Targaryen
Haus-Targaryen's picture

at this exchange rate, the average Ukranian makes $15 a month.  Essentially they are now poorer than Eritreans.  

Congratulations Mr. Nuland, you took a developing nation and threw it into the pot with Zimbabwe, Niger, Chad and Yemen.  But hey, the Ukies *MIGHT* get the blue and yellow flag, so its worth it.  Right!?  

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:48 | 5826525 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

That's "ms" Nuland to you...

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:21 | 5826656 HonkyShogun
HonkyShogun's picture

Not Nuland but Nudelman. Before she changed her Jew-name.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:06 | 5826593 giovanni_f
giovanni_f's picture

Because of Putin.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 14:27 | 5827843 tired1
tired1's picture

The problem is that Ukraine wasn't developing at all, it was gettig worse by the year. After the USSR collapse the tribe moved in and made sure, with $5 bill benny bucks, to forestal any development through the use of numerous NGO's.

The new oligarcs, previously convicted theives in USSR, took control ot he country. This was all part of the general plan to cripple Russia. Might be worth looking at Stratfor's predictions:

Collapse of Russia will prove major test for US – Stratfor

“It is unlikely that the Russian Federation will survive in its current form,” the forecast’s chapter dedicated to Russia begins. The research maintains that Moscow’s “failure to transform energy revenues into self-sustaining economy” will eventually lead to a “repeat of the Soviet Union's experience in the 1980s and Russia's in the 1990s,” with the process accompanied by a demographic decline that is set to “really hit” Russia. bla, bla bla

http://rt.com/usa/234983-stratfor-decade-forecast-russia/

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:22 | 5826439 junction
junction's picture

Money not worth the paper its printed on.  Thanks, George Soros.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:30 | 5826464 Truther
Truther's picture

Fuck Soros and the Nuland Brothel that goes with it. Another one bites the dust. Queen.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:30 | 5826689 giovanni_f
giovanni_f's picture

You have been offending a philantropist and a democratic liberator. Your cell at Homan square is currently being prepared. You hear from us.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 12:55 | 5827352 Boxed Merlot
Boxed Merlot's picture

...Thanks, George Soros...

 

You weren't supposed to see his connection with this or his purchasing of the US presidency.  You were only supposed to see his philanthropy in decriminalizing marijuana in the US.  Obviously his media hold is needing additional attention. 

Now where's that hotline to Teneo? 

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCwQ...

 

(Don't let the sanitized wiki-link fool ya, their "2012" birthday is Bogus.  

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:24 | 5826447 giovanni_f
giovanni_f's picture

The list of flourishing democracies 'made in US' keeps on growing

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:37 | 5826727 Philby MI6
Philby MI6's picture

The Ukraine is turning out to be another US foreign policy failure.
During 1945-49, with German, French and Italian economies in ruins, the US together with Britain managed to hold the line militarily against the Soviets giving the others time to rebuild their economies. They recovered sufficiently and the tide turned in the west's favor. With the collapse of the Soviet empire, Russia is now being pushed eastwards. She’s trying to hold on to her traditional markets in Eastern Europe. Russia must have a strong economy to support a strong military industrial base. The US is attempting to constrict her economically. The EU is suffering from expansion fatigue and I sense is trying to resist pressure by the Americans to continue the drive eastwards. In the last 20 years the EU has grown from 12 to 28 states, that’s a considerable increase. Recriminations between Europe and the US over the failures in the Ukraine have been quite vocal. The EU has serious economic problems, particularly in France and Italy, they can’t afford it. The Americans are too aggressive. The Ukraine is suffering. That’s what happens when great powers clash over territory.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 14:33 | 5827873 tired1
tired1's picture

Russia needs a strong economy but it doesnt need much from foreign (hostle) states. The country is blessed with resources that can and will be developed, in part due to sanctions.

This has Europe scared shitless, as this persists they lose a growing share of Russian market. Ask the Polack apple farmers.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:40 | 5826500 Ondoron
Ondoron's picture

The US "political engineering" has been a great success. NeoNazis in the Kiew government, Bidens son there to exploit what there it to exploit, civil war in the East. Thanks so much - also for the US think tanks who were the spindoctors for the unfolding events... 

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:40 | 5826501 Ondoron
Ondoron's picture

The US "political engineering" has been a great success. NeoNazis in the Kiew government, Bidens son there to exploit what there it to exploit, civil war in the East. Thanks so much - also for the US think tanks who were the spindoctors for the unfolding events... 

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:14 | 5826878 JRobby
JRobby's picture

Uhaul and Budget truck rental lots empty.......................

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 12:24 | 5827169 HardAssets
HardAssets's picture

And bullish for clothing with sewn in hidden pockets ? (For real money.)

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 12:39 | 5827257 WillyGroper
Wed, 02/25/2015 - 13:38 | 5827607 campaign4liberty
campaign4liberty's picture

Sorry but this on the picture is a banker moving dollars to a voult, not a construction worker. I'm on your side, but there's plenty of good pictures from Weimar.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:15 | 5826405 LawsofPhysics
LawsofPhysics's picture

Yes, unfortunately, the suitcase will be of greater value than the paper inside...

same as it ever was...

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:18 | 5826414 Urban Roman
Urban Roman's picture

Hopefully it is printed on nice clean paper, without a lot of plastic.

Plastic stinks and makes a mess when you burn it for heat.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:53 | 5826541 Jim in MN
Jim in MN's picture

The microchips can add a nice greenish color and spark--just watch the ventilation!

 

Wait 'til the fire turns greeeeeennnnnnnnnn......

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 13:29 | 5827544 HopefulCynical
HopefulCynical's picture

Wait 'til the fire turns greeeeeennnnnnnnnn......

Extra bonus points for the Zappa reference!

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:44 | 5826753 Razor_Edge
Razor_Edge's picture

Stinks when used for ass wiping too!!! But probably cheaper than the real thing.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:49 | 5826530 silverer
silverer's picture

Any you can carry your lunch AND your resume in it, with room to spare!

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:15 | 5826406 Mr Poopra
Mr Poopra's picture

It could never happen here though.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:17 | 5826410 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

We got the almighty DOLLAR.

We are bulletproof!

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:21 | 5826431 GetZeeGold
GetZeeGold's picture

 

 

Convert that crap into equities.....quick!!!

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:22 | 5826440 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

I did already....tools of self defense.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:48 | 5826529 silverer
silverer's picture

Watch out for the salaried (-) Yellen trolls.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 14:35 | 5827886 juantrades
juantrades's picture

and nothing is stronger!

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:26 | 5826458 sessinpo
sessinpo's picture

I think that is a false comparison just like those that use the Wiemar Republic. Neither Ukraine or Wiemar were the world's currency reserve. That is why I have been right in being bullish the dollar.

What is more likely to happen is the dollar continues its strength against other currencies as deflation rages and nations have to get dollars to service debt loads. Then at some point, defaults occur when those debt loads just can't be serviced and then we have an eventual dollar collapse and a move toward a new currency reserve or one backed by commodities such as PMs. Until then, the dollar marches upward.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:31 | 5826474 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

You may be right, but that doesn't make it a good thing. Economic instabilities have always created "opportunities" which is why we have them. But don't be so foolish as to believe that just because you are on the high side of the Titanic, that your end will be any different from the rest of the passengers.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:50 | 5826534 zerocash
zerocash's picture

The rich can afford to buy places on the lifeboats though.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:45 | 5827013 LawsofPhysics
LawsofPhysics's picture

Sure, but they better have some serious security to protect those "lifeboat" and their supply lines.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 17:25 | 5828656 mkkby
mkkby's picture

Yes, eventually the high side of the titanic will sink. 

When spain, italy, france and japan "go Greece" and start to recover -- only then will the flight to safety in dollars stop and begin to reverse.  That is your tell.  When these larger economies fail and the euro actually collapses.  Not just talk on blogs. 

Since Greece has now been flailing around for 7 years with no end in sight, you can imagine the dollar is safe for decades.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:04 | 5826582 sessinpo
sessinpo's picture

Did I say it made it a good thing?

I was only commenting on the post that suggested hyperinflation could occur here and I suggested otherwise and gave my reasons.

That puts you on the high side of the Titanic because I use history correctly to aid my viewpoint.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:36 | 5826484 LawsofPhysics
LawsofPhysics's picture

The issue that eventually comes to a head is related to exactly what you are getting at.  It's a global market and much of the global debt is in fact in dollars.

 

Of course, everyone should also recognize that there simply is no monetary, eCONomic, political, or fiscal solution to resource scarcity.  When resources run low, people's standard of living goes down or they go to war, period.  Innovation is expensive and requires a tremendous amount of capital and resources.  Now you tell me, has the world been investing it's resources and capital well? 

tick tock...

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:43 | 5826507 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

What resources are we short of except the productivity to pay for them? Compared to what my parents grew up with, we are living large.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:40 | 5826740 LawsofPhysics
LawsofPhysics's picture

Yes, unfortunately the calories that must be consumed on a daily basis is also quite "large".

Tell me, do you think that is sustainable?  If so, for how long?

tick tock.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 17:32 | 5828684 mkkby
mkkby's picture

LawOf, just STFU already you stupid troll.  Resource scarcity?  The entire continents of Africa and South America are largely untapped wilderness.  I don't want to see them decimated, but the fact is they will be.

These supposedly scarce resources are so cheap/plentiful they are all being wasted.  There's the logic even a moron like you can't escape.  We just casually use it and throw it away.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:57 | 5826554 UselessEater
UselessEater's picture

if a true free market and true free price discovery existed resource availability is fine

we live in a world where resources are controlled and owned by a web of relatively small interconnected interests with the backing of ownership in central banking and the MIC

eg in the 60's and 70's the former nation called Zimbabwe was highly productive, lift the boot off its neck and it still has the resources and capability to be so again

scarcity is an over used word by design it has the benefit of enriching a few at the expense of the rest

remove monopoly protections & patents & crony international "corporate vested" courts that inhibit innovative progress and scarcity will be quickly seen as propagandized therefore a weaponized word

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:09 | 5826610 sessinpo
sessinpo's picture

What I find amusing is thoser that think that this control of resources is a modern phenominon. It isn't. It has been around since the beginnings of government.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:35 | 5826681 UselessEater
UselessEater's picture

longer than that even (if 'royalty' is considered government)..how much does one include in a post? In southern africa it was even before Cecil Rhodes but there in itself is a mighty fine example.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:48 | 5826763 LawsofPhysics
LawsofPhysics's picture

Yes, it is and has always been about power and control over real resources (inclduing the human kind), but if you seriously think that truly free markets don't lead to monopolies and corruption you are a first class fool.

Moreover, I have two patents that I brought to market and if you don't think that real innovation requires real capital and resources, again, you are a complete fool.

Like life, success is about balancing that "free market" with a fair and smart regulation and rule of law (is John Corzine in prison yet?).

At the heart of all societies is their currency as this is how we exchange the fruits of our labor.  The creation of that currency is no longer attached to COLLATERAL or REAL PRODUCTION.

The earth has a very real carrying capacity motherfucker so if you cannot connect all these dots, then you are probably no different than the statists that were "leading" those good folks on Easter Island.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 12:36 | 5827234 Sweet Chicken
Sweet Chicken's picture

"At the heart of all societies is their currency as this is how we exchange the fruits of our labor.  The creation of that currency isno longer attached to COLLATERAL or REAL PRODUCTION."

^This

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:24 | 5826927 JRobby
JRobby's picture

What you seem to be dancing around here is the relative size of CB's (ever expanding) balance sheets? It is all timing.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 13:23 | 5827425 HardAssets
HardAssets's picture

( deleted )

I was just gonna do more sheeple bashing . . . but there's really not more that needs to be said on that.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:17 | 5826408 actionjacksonbrownie
actionjacksonbrownie's picture

Got Gold???

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:18 | 5826417 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

If things go badly, and I do think they will go VERY badly, gold will be a valuable as lead, and maybe less, if not in the form of a projectile.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:22 | 5826438 GetZeeGold
GetZeeGold's picture

 

 

Remain calm.....and tune into CNBC.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:24 | 5826448 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

The pied pipers?

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:38 | 5826488 cossack55
cossack55's picture

Hopefully you have the appropriate molds and fishing sinkers by now.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:09 | 5826607 Took Red Pill
Took Red Pill's picture

Didn't the Lone Ranger make his bullets out of silver?

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:12 | 5826616 sessinpo
sessinpo's picture

I don't think the Lone Ranger made shit other than love to his mate Tonto.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:26 | 5826675 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

What about Trigger??

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 12:45 | 5827297 rejected
rejected's picture

No silly,,, silver bullets are used to kill werewolves.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:25 | 5826451 RealityCheque
RealityCheque's picture

http://www.bullion-rates.com/gold/UAH/Daily-90-chart.htm

Gold vs Ukrainian toilet paper over the last 90 days.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:20 | 5826424 Global Hunter
Global Hunter's picture

Another exceptional American foreign economic and military success story!!!

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:20 | 5826427 WTFUD
WTFUD's picture

Another Coup? Coups cost money , ask that CUNT Nuland.

Will be good to watch the Nazi boys in Kiev stringing up the installed Vichy DC puppets.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:30 | 5826469 yogibear
yogibear's picture

Victoria Nuke-land just wants massive war.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:30 | 5826684 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

Does anyone think that ANY governments WANT stability? It is the constant stirring of the pot, the destabilization of the world that creates the opportunities they need to get ahead. Chaos is the their friend.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:47 | 5827025 rejected
rejected's picture

Actually Joel Skousen (Strategic Relocation) has a radically different take. Listening to him the other night with A. Jones he believes all this is somehow being done by Russia. Says the breakup of the USSR was phoney and that Russia wants to reassemble it. He has been saying this even before the Ukraine mess.

Personally I don't know....  If Russia is behind all this they are far and above superior to any western strategists.So far I tend to agree with PCR's version. The u.s has admitted to brokering a regime change. Nuland did make that stupid call and the u.s has actual combat troops on the ground in Ukeland.

But, gotta look at both sides because mostly what we see isn't what's happening. He does have a lot of credentials so.....I'll post his site for those smarter than me can check it out.

http://www.joelskousen.com/

 

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 14:59 | 5828000 tired1
tired1's picture

Sorry, he's an old cold warrior. I think the Sov collapse was an effort to segment the empire so that it might be more easily pilfered, and that is exaclty what happened.

I think that the theivery was so crippling and blatant that is made popular support for national revival possible. That's what I see under Putin.

You might want to look at Stratfor's policy projections, which are even more insane than usual

“It is unlikely that the Russian Federation will survive in its current form,” the forecast’s chapter dedicated to Russia begins. The research maintains that Moscow’s “failure to transform energy revenues into self-sustaining economy” will eventually lead to a “repeat of the Soviet Union's experience in the 1980s and Russia's in the 1990s,” with the process accompanied by a demographic decline that is set to “really hit” Russia.

http://rt.com/usa/234983-stratfor-decade-forecast-russia/

I think Americans are soon going to learn some hard learned lessons that much of the world already knows. Good luck.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:21 | 5826430 Martian Moon
Martian Moon's picture

Good

Remove from a state the ability to print currency out of thin air and have it be considered money, and war stops

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:30 | 5826467 sessinpo
sessinpo's picture

False thinking. Nothing stops the evil progressives from war.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:10 | 5826612 Martian Moon
Martian Moon's picture

War costs money, real money, and lots of it.

Without the ability to inflate away the wealth of its people, or borrow against future generations, war becomes unfeasible for the state.

Do you think a single war that America has been in since 911 would have happened if Americans actually had to pay for it upfront?

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:23 | 5826664 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

There is no doubt that all wars demand debt, but there are differences. WWII was met with real sacrifice at home for virtually everyone, and we actually did have the ability to pay it back. Since that time very little has been asked from the public directly related to the costs of war. Everything now is based on infinite debt

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 10:45 | 5826745 Martian Moon
Martian Moon's picture

Oldwood, I know WWII was met with real sacrifice, but it does not lessen my point.

Both WWI and WWII were bankster wars, caused by and for the bankster class, and both relied on fiat currency printing and indebting of future generations.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/11/the-long-story-of-us...

 

It is not perchance that the Fedral Reserve was established in 1913 and America was at war less than four years later.

I'll go one step further, quash the ability to print currency and magically have it accepted as money, and you've eliminated the source funding for most evil in this world.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:28 | 5826943 JRobby
JRobby's picture

Nor perchance that the growth of debt/money supply/velocity was unsatisfactory to the banksters world wide in the decade leading up to WWII

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:41 | 5826991 LawsofPhysics
LawsofPhysics's picture

More to the point all fiat creation is no longer attached to any real collateral or production.  Until 1971, there was at least some very real strings keep the silver dollar attached to reality and some sort of productive capital...

tick tock motherfuckers.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 13:06 | 5827422 Icelandicsaga.....
Icelandicsaga...............................................'s picture

 

A total banker war . run up to WWI .. Russo Japanese war .. and it was so obvious ... am not sure bankers are the sum total of all wars. but they help them along and know how to make massive amounts of money off of them .. not sure bankers caused Japan's militarism which was based more on philosophical and cultural issues.. the war with Germany could be said to have had massive interference of western banking and corporate interests .. From IBM . Ford and GE to Standard Oil .. Chief Justice Robert Jackson said in one of his papers that one of the reasons they stopped the Nurmeberg TRials when they got to the industrialists . .was because the trail led back to about 26 American owned companies or their subsidiaries in the Reich .. the trials also ended according to various experts like Higham because the Cold War with Russia was just kicking off and it would have made capitalims look bad to discover the very deep connections of banking and corporate interests in the US with the Third Reich.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 15:06 | 5828014 tired1
tired1's picture

Exellent. Might want to look into Meiji Restoration and where Japan got the money for warships to be built in England.

also: http://www.viator.com/Kochi-attractions/Paradesi-Synagogue-and-Jew-Town/...

Japanese have a slang for the tribe: fugu

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:31 | 5826931 rejected
rejected's picture

WWII debt was paid by inflating....

Per Globalfinancialdata.com

 

Run a deficit that is less than the growth in nominal GDP so even if you continue to run a deficit, the debt/GDP ratio shrinks. The government may have to run a surplus before interest payments in order to achieve this. The lower the interest rate, the easier this is to do. This is largely what happened in the United States between 1945 and 1973. This imposes a lower cost on taxpayers in the short-run, but raises the total cost of debt over time the same either way.
Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:43 | 5827006 LawsofPhysics
LawsofPhysics's picture

And what did the tax brackets and taxation look like in the U.S. from 1945 to 1973 again?  Don't be such a disingenuous cunt.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 12:42 | 5827275 rejected
rejected's picture

1945 tax over 200, 000 was 94%. Stayed there until 1964 when it dropped to about 75%..............Answered your question.

 

$200,000 1945 dollars == 2.6 million 2014 dollars.(Yep,,, no inflation tax there!)

Federal Tax approx $1.3 million equals somewhere in the neighborhood of 50%.  If you live in California add another 3- 400,000.

 

Actually I do try to look at the facts when in fact they appear to be facts :))

And the fact is the government did use the GDP - Deficit scheme to pay most of the war debt.

 

Speaking of taxes, there is a difference between marginal tax rates and Effective tax rates. Example

1979 Marginal Tax Rate was 70% the Effective Tax Rate was 22%

2005 Marginal Tax Rate was 35% the Effective Tax Rate was 20%.

Like everything government the gobbley gook and bullshit is so pervasive it's impossible to make any definite comparisons.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:22 | 5826435 christiangustafson
christiangustafson's picture

Send in Craft International. Send the Stern Gang. Send in Jamie Farr!

Hurry! I only pray it is not too late.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 15:07 | 5828039 tired1
tired1's picture

They're already there.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:22 | 5826436 RealityCheque
RealityCheque's picture

Are they soft and gentle when wiping one's arsehole though? Enquiring minds want to know.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:27 | 5826459 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

Fifty years ago we had the phone book and the JC Pennys catalogs as backup to any TP emergency. Its going to be tough to wipe my ass with my tablet. Selfie???

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:40 | 5826496 negative rates
negative rates's picture

No new customers.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:46 | 5826516 silverer
silverer's picture

Yuk.  Bud still skip the poison ivy leaves.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:22 | 5826442 SheepDog-One
SheepDog-One's picture

'Suitcases to carry cash'? Better forget that nonsense and buy a good rifle, that's about the only thing that can actually do you any good.

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:26 | 5826456 Z_End
Z_End's picture

Former NATO Intel Officer Blames US for Ukraine Crisis

A former NATO intelligence analyst has said that the crisis in Ukraine stems from as far back as 30 years when the United States "deliberately sabotaged" relations between Europe and Russia.

 

http://sputniknews.com/world/20150225/1018728748.html

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:29 | 5826463 wmbz
wmbz's picture

How can this be? I thought we lived in the modern age? This time it's different. Good thing that this can not happen here in the good 'ol USSA!

Capt. Jack's got this right?

Coming soon to a theater near you!

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 09:33 | 5826477 exomike
exomike's picture

Hey, how 'bout them Nazis!? No, not those Nazis! I mean the Nazis from the U.S.

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!