Faithless Gold Money
"The immediate threat of banking and fiscal meltdown in the southern periphery has receded, and after one of the longest recessions on record – six successive quarters of economic contraction – there are even tentative signs of recovery."[But] unemployment, already at intolerable levels in some Euro-zone countries, is still rising and money growth remains exceptionally depressed."Nor is there any end in sight to credit destruction, with deeply negative implications for SMEs and future jobs creation. According to a new report by Royal Bank of Scotland, Europe's banks need to shed a further €3.2 trillion of assets (roughly equal to annual German GDP) to comply with new international capital standards."IMF research cited last week by the European Central Bank puts the Euro zone's "structural unemployment" rate – that is the unemployment that won't go away even after the economy returns to normal – at a staggering 10.1%, up from 7.4% before the crisis. If correct, it means that any European recovery will be a largely jobless one."