"The European Financial System Is Finished" In Quotes
When it comes to European bureaucrats, the easiest way to determine if they are lying is whether or not their mouths are open. Yet there are those rare occasions in which even the most hardened of liars let one slip. The Economic Collapse, always the master of compiling impactful bulletins, has prepared a list of just such "slip" quotes that "are absolutely shocking. In Europe they openly admit that the financial system is dying, that the euro is in danger of not surviving and that the EU does not work in its present form." In other words, ignore the ceaseless headlines of promises that all shall be well. Because it won't. Here is all you need to know about the imminent end of the Eurozone, straight from the horses' mouths.
From the Economic Collapse:
The following are 20 quotes from European leaders that prove that they know that the financial system in Europe is doomed....
#1 Polish finance minister Jacek Rostowski: "European elites, including German elites, must decide if they want the euro to survive - even at a high price - or not. If not, we should prepare for a controlled dismantling of the currency zone."
#2 Stephane Deo, Paul Donovan, and Larry Hatheway of Swiss banking giant UBS: "Under the current structure and with the current membership, the euro does not work. Either the current structure will have to change, or the current membership will have to change."
#3 EU President Herman Van Rompuy: "The euro has never had the infrastructure that it requires."
#4 German President Christian Wulff: "I regard the huge buy-up of bonds of individual states by the ECB as legally and politically questionable. Article 123 of the Treaty on the EU’s workings prohibits the ECB from directly purchasing debt instruments, in order to safeguard the central bank’s independence"
#5 Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackerman: "It is an open secret that numerous European banks would not survive having to revalue sovereign debt held on the banking book at market levels."
#6 ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet: "We are experiencing very demanding times"
#7 International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde: "Developments this summer have indicated we are in a dangerous new phase"
#8 Prince Hermann Otto zu Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, the Bundestag's Deputy President: "We must consider whether it would not be better for the currency union and for Greece itself to go for debt restructuring and an exit from the euro"
#9 Alastair Newton, a strategist for Nomura Securities in London: "We believe that we are just about to enter a critical period for the eurozone and that the threat of some sort of break-up between now and year-end is greater than it has been at any time since the start of the crisis"
#10 Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder: "The current crisis makes it relentlessly clear that we cannot have a common currency zone without a common fiscal, economic and social policy"
#11 Bank of England Governor Mervyn King: "Dealing with a banking crisis was difficult enough, but at least there were public-sector balance sheets on to which the problems could be moved. Once you move into sovereign debt, there is no answer; there's no backstop."
#12 George Soros: "We are on the verge of an economic collapse which starts, let's say, in Greece. The financial system remains extremely vulnerable."
#13 German Chancellor Angela Merkel: "The current crisis facing the euro is the biggest test Europe has faced for decades, even since the Treaty of Rome was signed in 1957."
#14 Stephane Deo, Paul Donovan, and Larry Hatheway of Swiss banking giant UBS: "Member states would be economically better off if they had never joined. European monetary union was generally mis-sold to the population of the Europe."
#15 Professor Giacomo Vaciago of Milan's Catholic University: "It's clear that the euro has virtually failed over the last ten years, even if you are not supposed to say that."
#16 EU President Herman Van Rompuy: "We’re in a survival crisis. We all have to work together in order to survive with the euro zone, because if we don’t survive with the euro zone we will not survive with the European Union."
#17 German Chancellor Angela Merkel: "If the euro fails, then Europe fails."
#18 Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackerman: "All this reminds one of the autumn of 2008"
#19 International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde: "There has been a clear crisis of confidence that has seriously aggravated the situation. Measures need to be taken to ensure that this vicious circle is broken"
#20 German Chancellor Angela Merkel: "The euro is in danger ... If we don't deal with this danger, then the consequences for us in Europe are incalculable."
Most of the individuals quoted above desperately want to save the euro. They are not going to go down without a fight. The overwhelming consensus among the political and financial elite in Europe is that increased European integration in Europe is the answer.
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Who cares when you have a shitload of PMs stacked ^^
billions of others...
No, billions of others obviously dont care. Because if they cared, they would stack PMs and not worry about it.
Argumentation at its not finest.
i try to convince everyone i know to buy PMs & stock up on necessities (including guns + ammo) and most just look at me like a deer in the headlights and go back to watching cnn and all the other presstitute networks. i hope ppl wake up.
on a side note - i think we will see some type of false flag terror event very soon to take the sheeples' attention off of govt corruption/economic craziness and focus on some new "threat"
yeah, maybe on the 10th year anniversary of 9-11.
Building 7...?
If you aren't already, don't become an indentured servant to your creditors. Because that's what it could come down to.
http://www.planbeconomics.com/2010/09/07/you-are-an-indentured-servant-t...
I don't have any debt, but I do have some questions.
What happens to the dollar if Europe coalesces into a policy, fiscal, and monetary union?
What happens to the price of gold, in dollars, if Europe coalesces into a policy, fiscal, and monetary union?
What happens to the price of oil? Will it be repriced in euros?
"What happens to the dollar if Europe coalesces into a policy, fiscal, and monetary union?"
For those who see the ultimate end game here, that scenario would buy a few years for social/supply chain preparation.
"What happens to the price of gold, in dollars, if Europe coalesces into a policy, fiscal, and monetary union?"
That depends partially on whether it is backed by gold or whether it is accompanied by creative rules (and believe me we hominids can be creative) on owning/spending gold/silver. But barring such rules, gold will go higher, as the only way a Federation can pay the bills is with more guarantees and expansion of government/central bank balance sheets.
"What happens to the price of oil? Will it be repriced in euros?"
Oil will be priced at the marginal barrel, which largely depends on global economic growth. Even if Europe is able to 'Federate', global economic growth is largely over, at least in real terms, if not nominal. Oil, barring some geopolitical situation will go lower in price until depletion rate exceeds ecnomic decline rate sometime in next 3-5 years - though I could easily argue that economic decline rate will exceed oil decline rate and despite passing world peak in production we have $30 oil for a decade. (I expect many, if not all, to disagree.)
"increased European integration in Europe is the answer."
What the fuck does that even mean?
Americans for America!
Europe should have bought gold...
http://azizonomics.com/2011/09/06/america-priced-in-gold/
Europe experiencing what US experienced end of year 2008.
forget gold....short euro banks till the last drop
You mean the same blood-soaked continent that's been at each other's throats for centuries is going to double down on even deeper unification? That Europe? Thanks for the laugh. That's a good one.
exactly...what happens if monkeys fly out of my ass?
Depends:
World Bank Development Research Group - "The Impact of Economic Blogs" - David Mckenzi & Berk Øzler. August 2011
http://www.scribd.com/doc/63942456/Wps-5783#fullscreen:on
Is no one here as cool as they think?
Seriously? you link to an "academic paper" from a useless organization (World Bank) about useless bloggers (Krugmann, Mankiw) and their useless effects? Is this just a lazy dig at ZH'ers or is there some point?
What strength level of Depends will restrain monkeys flying out of ass?
None that I have found....
Thanks for asking. You will certainly need to employ maximum strength ChastiDepends- "Nothing goes in or comes out".
In the EU there will be bank haircuts - and there will be fiscal controls.
EU will prevail. This present article's quotes are rhetoric aimed to produce EU discipline.
US spends more than twice the energy per capita than EU.
US has far worse tade balance and debt than core EU nations.
US has horrible infrastructure, education and income gaps like a banana republic.
US social strucure is crumbling and 2012 GOP victory wil cremate 80% of US'ians with austerity.
US/USD/Empire will collapse - beginning Q1/2012 and culminating in 2013.
Sleep tight, US'ians.
And you think what--europe will flourish while the u.s. Goes down in flames. Har. When uncle Sam dies his little dog Europe will be buried alongside him.
Sharia law across the caliphate of Eurabia.
And Christian law in the US.
Nobody flourishes. America becomes a Chinese colony.
Amerikka might....but I'm confident there are a lot of Americans willing to tell Amerikka....and China....to go fuck themselves.
How that works out??.....probably badly....there will be blood.
In the end?
Nothing changes bitchez.
Cheers
@jdelano
Europe don't need Uncle Sam. Eurasia is already on its way.
Hey, German people ! It's time to dump the USSA and take delivery of your gold.
Except for self defense. What happens to their budgets when the US withdraws all its bases?
That's a wonderful idea. Take your shitty cars with you too, and sell them to the Chinese instead. Oh, and we'll withdraw our forces entirely, and let's see how well your economy reacts. har har
EU core nations....that is why EU will fail. Why would the core nations want to subsidize the lazy lifestyle of Greeks and Italians? They won't.
Different languages, cultures, and thousands of years of hatred and distrust in EU. A bunch of douchebag bankers can't make all of that go away. That is why they are trying to replace the native populations with Arabs, South Asians and Africans. A brave new world of misery for the remaining Europeons.
That sums it up. Levels of hatred and distrust we cannot understand in the US. State rivalry is not the same at the Country level. Will Germany ever let a few guys in Brussles decide anything of importance? If you have time, check out the book Paris 1919, its about the Treaty of Versailles and all the normal things that happen when a bunch of countriies get together and are subject to Decision by Committee on important issues. The main difference today is that Germany is the strongest country!!!!!!!
An excellent book! American, ie Wilson, with his high minded ideaology and the French with their need for revenge and money (lots of it), the Brits with their desire for more territory (and oil) and the dumb fuck Italians thinking they deserve more territory too made for one hell of a circus. We and the rest of the world are still suffering from the consequences.
US citizens absolutely hate and despise each other along ethnic and ideological/party lines.
Have you not paid attention to the immigration war, culture war, class war rhetoric?
South hates north, middle hates coasts.
US is built on hatred and competition.
Soon, you will remember the civil war, race riots and all the other ugly scabs on US history as they resurface under austerity, poverty, increased unemployment, ever falling home prices.
Remember my prediction during the next nine months as you witness your empire crumble from within.
fail
And yet a black man is president.
You listen to the MSM to much.
at the end, we all live in the same World, are people and God's children.
It wouldnt suprise me a bit if we come out of this mess on top as a more unified World....therefore a better place to live in....more productive and easier to live in so to speak...before you jomp...it is a general statement, but sooner or later at some point in time people will live in a unified place....perhaps we might be approaching the end of the line....with all the improvements in technology it is time for politics and the politicos to catch up...
I dunno, there are more than a few of Satan's kids out there.
Reality Check:
1 The once most inter-warring EU countries are now the most tightly co-operating countries.
2 middle easterners were invited into Europe - not to replace non-integrating Europeans, but as guest workers in the 1960s manufacturing boom
3 unlike US'ians, of whom only 12% own a passport and 90% know nothing about the world except what they are told by corporate controlled US TV - Europeans travel & work extensively in each others' countries.
Any US'ian who has not been to Europe should go - or shut up.
Are you really that stupid or do you really believe the tripe you spew?
Besides, all those europeons jetsetting around the world is bad for the environment and causes global warming. They better stop before I call Al Gore
What's your analysis, genius? Sound bytes is all you do. Have you been to Europe? Your "knowledge" is trite and old and boring. You are probably a backwoods hegemon living vicariously on US TV narcissism, priding yourself of holding a bit of PMs.
Sharpen your brain - argue why US doesn't collapse next nine months or two years or whatever - with facts, not diatribe plattitudes of inate superiority.
Eureka, it's a race to the bottom. Unfortunately, we have far more sheeple here than Europe does, and we do not have the same immigration demographics either. It will be easier for TPTB to slow our decent for those reasons and more.
If I were a betting man, I would be all in on Europe winning the race. This isn't about superiority either. We're both screwed. It's time the West got its shit together and stopped fighting itself. We have a lot of work to do if we expect to survive this and maintain our liberties.
Post the truth and get junk rated, it's the ZH way.
They have passports because until recently, passes were required to travel to a neighboring country.
@sun tzu
Once the Anglo-American empire will collapse, we will be free to kick the Afro-muslims colons out of our continent like we already did 500 years ago.
They raid your house. Then tell you only Madagascar monkeys are permitted.
Oh, thats our regime...never mind ;-)
If you cook and eat some monkeys and wash them down with giardia infected water, they will fly out of your ass. For real.
Why would you cook them? The brains are properly eaten from a live (but not for long) monkey. I've been told by someone that actually did this that it's a delicacy.
http://www.squidoo.com/MONKEY-BRAIN
What happens if the Eurozone discards mark to market on Megabank REO and other "Investments" like bonds issued by Greece, Spain, Italy and others?
That little ploy worked out well for the criminal cartel here in the good old USA.
Why won't it "save" the Eurozone banks?
Sounds like a deus ex machina about to burst onto the scene
i would think 11/11/11 is a good candidate.
Psst.. It's history. She's telling you something...
And FREEGOLD theory says Euro is the cure for FIAT Dollar? Just goes to show that you can be as clueless as every other Keynesian even if you claim to be a gold bug.
Although there are some apparently highly intelligent proponents here of the FREEGOLD theory, I remain highly skeptical of it, not the least because I see NO reason, EVER, for the existence of the criminal, manipulative and oppressive fraud that is fiat currency.
Under the FREEGOLD scenario, who or what is to stop me from using gold directly as money with Joe, and then Joe with John, and John with Paul, and on and on, until a de facto gold standard has been reestablished? Why do we need the abomination of fiat currency at all?
dont believe anyone just keep stacking
you know under freegold theory that the euro is delinked from the states debt. I have confirmed this although still a little cloudy.
the franc just linked to the euro today...that tells me that the euro is going to be used to price oil
don't discount freegold theory
If the Euro is delinked from the state debts...well the balance sheet of the ECB is a nightmare made up of PIGS debt, doesn't really make sense does it? and remember the gold may be in Europe (ignoring the fact it's officially in NYC), but it's on the states balance sheets not the ECBs, so sayeth the ECB anyway.
Golds a good buy, but I'm a little leery to believe some magical tale of gold and fiat marching boldly into the future. Once a currency no longer is a store of value the velocity must my necessity approach infinity, and we all know what happens when that occurs...KABOOM!
Would someone kindly point me to a concise, scholarly definition of "freegold theory"?
(A bunch of blog and message board posts referring to previous posts ad infinitum does not count.)
I've spent months looking at FOFOA and while I can see the shape of freegold, the mechanics are beyond me. That, to me, means it's a pipe dream.
It took me a month or two, of adversarial study intent on debunking, to comprehend the shape of Austrian economics. Once the basic mechanics and fundamental stability of Austrian Econ became apparent, the former mysteries seemed self evident (even though there are deep esoteric issues, and some bigger issues like IP rights that still need to be worked out) while Freegold, even though I am sympathetic, is still a mystery.
The basics, though are this-
A currency (the euro in FOFOAs proposition) will become delinked from national currency, and will float with gold, i.e., it will become a defacto world gold standard. The euro is ALREADY delinked from any nation, and according to the proponents of freegold, the citizens of Europe are already encouraged to keep REAL cash in gold, and only use the euro as a transactional currency. Technically, in some countries you can do that (take euros and buy gold with no tax) but it is far from the norm.
For freegold to work, a bank would have to do the translation from euro to gold in house, in real time, and the law would have to support it. That is FAR from the reality, and will never be real.
Freegold is a nice mental exercise, but until a competing system of gold holding, currency issuing, non-state actors can exist with full legal freedom, it will not happen.
Fiat currency will have to die.
Gold, Silver & bitcoins is all we need to restart
Wow - Bitcoins.
Didn't know anybody was still talking about those.
.
.
.
Ain't nobody gonna manufacture MY opinion !!
Gold and silver are already money. Try this: go to a coin store, with a roosevelt dime and say you want to sell it. You'll get a few bucks, and no receipt or record will be made. On your way.
You can do the reverse as well, but it will cost you 5% above the spot price.
Trade FRNs for goods. Done.
People will do this more and more as the value of dollars goes down and confidence in the currency erodes. Eventually, the middle man will be removed (merchants will take gold and silver).
Done.
I already do this. I think of my coin dealer as my "local bank".
Done.
They are called Goldman Sachs because at the least minute when you least expect it, the gov confiscates your gold. And they know who has it since you are constantly posting about holdings.
Better figure out how to move it past TSA.
Any ideas, let me know?
FreeGold's problem is that it's still designed by bankers who would not give up their printing FIAT privilege, which is why they come up with this bizarre FIAT + gold model as a compromise. It does not work that way b/c the privilege always gets abused and causes disasters. The solution has to be a hard currency w/o all this printing and fractional reserve madness.
According to Steve Keen (world's best economist) a hard currency does not solve the core problem we face today which is the use (abuse) of debt to speculate in assets. Use of debt should be reserved for productive investments. To solve this problem you must make asset speculation unattractive.
Hard currencies I think can reduce likelihood of government deficits. While government deficits are a big problem now, they were not the cause of the 2008 crisis. Excess debt used for asset speculation was the cause of the 2008 crisis.
It's all because of fractional reserve banking.
Which was adopted to support a period of (really) fast expansion.
I want to move to eastern Europe and claim myself as an American political refugee. That should get me staying power with the locals.
You assume we will have a solution. If there is a plan that allows them to keep power and keep the make believe trillions currently positioned in worthless sovereign debt, you bet they will use it. So what if a few gold bugs' net worth goes up. These crooks have most of the gold anyways.
The bigger issue is how they will sort out the fractional reserve gold ponzi before gold OFFICIALLY reenters the system. Can they really pretend 100 ounces exist for every 1 real ounce and still be able to renter the system?
I believe you are correct akak. My understanding of freegold was that by allowing gold to freely float against fiat, people would ultimately come to realize they don't need fiat. This of course to the alternative of abolishing it all at once, which some believe is an "extreme" step.
Also, freegold is right in claiming that returning to a fixed ratio gold standard is making the same mistake as no gold at all. We have to let people CHOOSE what they want to use as money, not have the government dictate what that money will be and how it will come into existence/be handed out.
Just my .02
I agree with you, Kenny (if I have read you correctly), that abolishing legal tender laws and allowing individuals to decide for themselves what form of money to use would be the ultimate in beneficial monetary reforms --- and that is why we will probably never see such a development, as the bankster elite would literally fight to the death against any such proposal.
Unfortunately, I have to agree. Even if by some miracle it did happen, how quickly would the new generation of banksters take control?
the secret service can and will stop you.........
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Dollar
we must wait..............
Hey, I out myself as a criminal. I have ten of those in my safe.
SS can get them after I'm dead, with a good locksmith and an oxyacetalene torch. If they can find the safe. (not bloody likely).
May they rot in a a ditch.
SS ..... see what I did there?
Here's a nice thing about FreeGold akak. You don't have to understand it, you just need to keep stacking physical. :)
Yes, you are correct. The most precious metals of them all in the end will be brass, copper and lead.
Pernicious Metals and Precious Metals, a perfect yin and yang.
‘Copper for the Tinsman clever at his skill,
Silver for the Maiden tipped in the till,
Gold for the Noblesmen sitting in their hall,
Iron, cold Iron calls the Baron from the hill,
Iron, cold Iron is the King of them all.’
The most precious of all metals is lead when wrapped in a full metal jacket
.
Nah, it's plutonium. Wrapped in HE. Your lead hasn't got a chance.
Tungsten makes much better bullets than lead does. It doesn't need a jacket because it very hard. It's melting point is much higher than lead and most other elements so it won't melt in the barrel. And it's much denser than lead (and most other elements), so the sectional density of your bullet can be much greater than lead. Lead is pretty good for something cheap though. But when the bad guys are after you, who wants cheap?
@ Comay Mierda - it's people like you who convinced me to
stock up on GGFA and other necessities. Thanks!
My county Deputy tells me to buy more Ammo every time he drops by and tells me
how bad the crime is in another county.
My county Deputy tells me to buy more Ammo every time he drops by and tells me
how bad the crime is in another county.
My county Deputy tells me to buy more Ammo every time he drops by and tells me
how bad the crime is in another county.
My county Deputy tells me to buy more Ammo every time he drops by and tells me
how bad the crime is in another county.
My hope is to come out whole, and then build a better world if building can be done at that time. It is impossible now.
My hope is to come out healthy, and then fight against all of them guyz who wish to smoke me.
Skosh' hope, but, well, we'll muddle through.
- Ned
Strangely enough, billions of others ARE stacking PMs! Most Indians, a great many Chinese, SE Asians, middle-easterners, Malaysians, and lots more. Vast numbers of people are "PM stackers". Not much on a per capita basis, but when you start multiplying by BILLIONS, funny things happen.
It is Westerners who are behind the curve in the PM stacking department.
Most Indians??
You are kidding aren't you? Over a billion of them couldn't afford one gram of gold.
No, not kidding. Yes, many of them cannot afford more than a gram. But many of them CAN, especially over decades and lifetimes (which is how it works, there). Indians have been stacking gold forever. Even dirt-poor Indian peasants. Darn backward hicks don't believe in modern stuff like banks and fiat currencies! We'll teach 'em! Ha Ha.
Indians own at least 15,000 tons of gold (circa 500 million ounces; circa 15 billion grams), possibly a good deal more.
They've been accumulating forever, and they hang on to it. It is not for "trading". It is for passing on, intergenerationally.
Current annual import by India is I believe about 4-500 tons, and probably VERY little of it ever leaves. Start multiplying hundreds of tons per year times decades, (centuries?), and.... 15,000 tons sounds very low, to me.
Remember also that it was not long ago that gold was not $60 a gram; more like $10 a gram. Even people with $1000 per year incomes can afford $30 (or maybe $100) for gold, if they value and treasure it.
Now, superimpose these facts on a FOFOA-like scenario in which gold goes to megabucks per ounce. Hmmmm. Suddenly, India's 15K tons go from $150 billion (at $300 per ounce) to $30 TRILLION (at $60K per ounce), or a lot more if they actually have 20-30K tons, and/or if it goes to one of FOFOA's higher numbers, like $100K.
Hmmmm. Interestinger and interestinger.
PS: India's 15K tons (or is it 25K?) versus the U.S.'s what -- 8K tons, ALLEGEDLY, in Fort Knox? What if it is tungsten with gold spray paint? Can you say "Massive Instantaneous Shift of Global Wealth and Geopolitical Power"?
......................
http://goldpriceindia.org/articles/20-thousand-tons-of-gold-hidden-in-ca...
20 thousand tons of gold hidden in cabinets and houses
Posted on February 24, 2011 by m.elkirsh .... there are somewhere between 15 and 20 thousand tons of gold bullion and jewelry representing 11 percent of the total gold production in the world in the tanks [sic] of Indian banks and safes in homes
I think this is true, but billions is not correct. There isn't enough metal. Total historical mined gold is estimated at 5 Billion ounces. Total above ground silver is 1 Billion ounces.
So each person can get 1/2 a kruggerand, and 1 mercury dime (although they might be able to accumulate another mercury dime every few years or so, after industrial use).
It seems like there are just a few people who own a lot of ounces of these, which means a lot of others don't get theirs.
But yes, I agree that Chinese and Indians have a head start on the stacking.
There's plenty of metal. Just not plenty enough for everyone to own 10 ounces, or even 2 ounces. When you get down to individual people, think GRAMS, not ounces.
As for silver: "above ground silver" figures do not account for Chinese accumulation over centuries. Silver is to China as gold is to India. China had a silver standard for centuries (only let go of it in the 1930s -- not long ago). Silver is the traditional wealth holding in China, and probably some billions of ounces (possibly even 10s of billions) are retained in jars, drawers, stuffed into walls, etc., etc., and passed-down in the family. Coins and bars, but also jewelry, cups, silverware, etc.
What if a Kiosakian/Dinesian/etc. (silver super-bull) scenario were to eventuate, with silver going to, say, $500 per ounce? Let's say the Chinese have 10 billion ounces -- 6-7 ounces per capita. At $500/ounce, that would be $5 trillion. Not as impressive as the India/gold/fofoa numbers, but nothing to sneeze at. But what if a more Hommelian/tmosleyan/etc. (the FOFOAs of silver) thing were to come down, with silver going to parity with gold -- at, say, $3,000/ounce? Then the Chinese 10 billion ounce stash goes to $30 trillion. More respectable. And it is always possible that the Chinese stash could be a good deal larger than 10 billion ounces.
What if the Chinese, over the centuries, had stashed silver equivalent in current dollars to the dollar value of gold stashed by the Indians? Current value of Indian gold (15K tons, 500 million ounces) is a bit under $1 trillion. Dividing 1 trillion by 40 ($40 silver) yields 25 billion. Have the Chinese accumulated 25 billion ounces of silver? I don't know. but that's under 20 ounces per capita or, say, 100-200 ounces per family (depending on how extended, how defined). That's not all that much, over the last 500-1000 years.
Hmmmm.
Most people are priced out of PM's of any kind. Most people, however smart they are have only been able to work part time for the last 3 years. Don't worry though, after everyone has slimmed down some, and people in your neighbourhood see you all nice and fat, I am certain you will make someone a nice meal...