Greece

[ktheodos]

It's crazy to hear what's happening there...and the effects seem to be spilling over into US Markets

[rghvac69]

I would have some extra food, water, medicine, and cash on hand . . . just in case it happens here.

[countrygirl12]

I am not really sure what is happening there.  Heard something about the economy.  Maybe I will go look it up.  There will be a total economic collapse in the US before it is over.  It's coming.  You can't just keep printing more and more worthless money.  As for extra food and water - you can only do so much.  I know there are people with enough food horded up in their houses to live for a year but that stuff DOES go bad.  And if it gets that bad somebody will come in and kill you and take it away from you.  And scripts from a doc you can only get so much.  Not something you can stock up on.  And also if there is a total collapse cash ain't gonna be worth anything so having it won't do you a lot of good.

Thanks.  Now I have depressed myself. 

I actually just did a quick search and found where their economy is in trouble because other countries won't lend them more money.  Not a big deal for us.  I also found an article about a economic collapse in 2011.  If it happened in 2011 and didn't effect us it won't effect us now.

[lvstephanie]

I'm less worried about the financial spillover than I am about America falling into the same trap that so many of these socialist countries are having. When you consider that Greece's debt to GDP ratio is better than ours, you'd think that Americans would want to try curtailing government spending before more severe measures would need to be used. And yet Scott Walker got so much flack when he tried to eliminate some of the public-sector pension plans -- one of the very things that has hurt Greece's economy.

[cberman]

what is going on there

[hawkeye3210]

I would have some extra food, water, medicine, and cash on hand . . . just in case it happens here.

Why? It's sounds like you have no idea what is going on Greece.

[countrygirl12]

I'm less worried about the financial spillover than I am about America falling into the same trap that so many of these socialist countries are having. When you consider that Greece's debt to GDP ratio is better than ours, you'd think that Americans would want to try curtailing government spending before more severe measures would need to be used. And yet Scott Walker got so much flack when he tried to eliminate some of the public-sector pension plans -- one of the very things that has hurt Greece's economy.

Americans do not have any choice or power over government spending.  If it were up to me I would make billions of dollars in cuts and we would be out of debt in no time.  Most of the government employees make more in one month than I make in a year.

[countrygirl12]

I would have some extra food, water, medicine, and cash on hand . . . just in case it happens here.

Why? It's sounds like you have no idea what is going on Greece.

Because people's thinking is if there is a total economic collapse they will have food, water, cash, meds.  Maybe you are the one that doesn't know what is going on.  Most of the banks have shut down.  Guess what?  Even if it is FDIC insured (which I doubt they have in Greece anyway) it will take time to get your money back.  And the ATMs are restricted to $60 a day per person.  Back during the depression a lot of things were rationed.  And some things you could not even get.  The line of thinking is if you have it stocked up then you will have it.  But if  it goes to that and people find out you have it then they will kill you and take it.

[hawkeye3210]

I would have some extra food, water, medicine, and cash on hand . . . just in case it happens here.

Why? It's sounds like you have no idea what is going on Greece.

Because people's thinking is if there is a total economic collapse they will have food, water, cash, meds.  Maybe you are the one that doesn't know what is going on.  Most of the banks have shut down.  Guess what?  Even if it is FDIC insured (which I doubt they have in Greece anyway) it will take time to get your money back.  And the ATMs are restricted to $60 a day per person.  Back during the depression a lot of things were rationed.  And some things you could not even get.  The line of thinking is if you have it stocked up then you will have it.  But if  it goes to that and people find out you have it then they will kill you and take it.

Could you still get food, water, medicine, etc. at the stores in 2008 when U.S. Economy collapsed? Of course you could. The panic about the Greece debt crisis, which has been going on since 2010, and needing to stock up on supplies is complete overkill. Sure, it has and will affect our financial markets, but this isn't some doomsday preppers scenerio.

The fear is that Greece will default on their debt. Is it realistic that the US will default on their debt? No, it's not. The US takes in revenue 10 times greater than it's debt payments. So yes, if you what is happening in Greece could happen in the US, you probably don't understand what is going on in Greece.

[countrygirl12]

I would have some extra food, water, medicine, and cash on hand . . . just in case it happens here.

Why? It's sounds like you have no idea what is going on Greece.

Because people's thinking is if there is a total economic collapse they will have food, water, cash, meds.  Maybe you are the one that doesn't know what is going on.  Most of the banks have shut down.  Guess what?  Even if it is FDIC insured (which I doubt they have in Greece anyway) it will take time to get your money back.  And the ATMs are restricted to $60 a day per person.  Back during the depression a lot of things were rationed.  And some things you could not even get.  The line of thinking is if you have it stocked up then you will have it.  But if  it goes to that and people find out you have it then they will kill you and take it.

Could you still get food, water, medicine, etc. at the stores in 2008 when U.S. Economy collapsed? Of course you could. The panic about the Greece debt crisis, which has been going on since 2010, and needing to stock up on supplies is complete overkill. Sure, it has and will affect our financial markets, but this isn't some doomsday preppers scenerio.

The fear is that Greece will default on their debt. Is it realistic that the US will default on their debt? No, it's not. The US takes in revenue 10 times greater than it's debt payments. So yes, if you what is happening in Greece could happen in the US, you probably don't understand what is going on in Greece.

The US economy did not collapse in 2008.  And yes it is very realistic that the US will default on their debts.  We are trillions and trillions in debt.  Do far in debt that seeing the numbers written out would be hard for most to comprehend or be able to figure out what the numbers actually is.

I do not know how people in Greece are reacting but I do know how people here act.  If there were to be a hold put on bank accounts and people were not allowed to withdraw but $60 a day and not have access to their own money I could only imagine what would happen.   

[countrygirl12]

I would have some extra food, water, medicine, and cash on hand . . . just in case it happens here.

Why? It's sounds like you have no idea what is going on Greece.

people find out you have it then they will kill you and take it.

 Is it realistic that the US will default on their debt? No, it's not. The US takes in revenue 10 times greater than it's debt payments. So yes, if you what is happening in Greece could happen in the US, you probably don't understand what is going on in Greece.

IF the US takes in 10 times greater than the amount of it's debt then why are we in debt?  Why are we borrowing money from China?  Why has the government shut down at least 3 different times because they didn't have the money to keep it running?  Why were military personnel not paid at one point?  Why are military personnel being laid off or cut because we can't afford to pay them?

[hawkeye3210]

I would have some extra food, water, medicine, and cash on hand . . . just in case it happens here.

Why? It's sounds like you have no idea what is going on Greece.

Because people's thinking is if there is a total economic collapse they will have food, water, cash, meds.  Maybe you are the one that doesn't know what is going on.  Most of the banks have shut down.  Guess what?  Even if it is FDIC insured (which I doubt they have in Greece anyway) it will take time to get your money back.  And the ATMs are restricted to $60 a day per person.  Back during the depression a lot of things were rationed.  And some things you could not even get.  The line of thinking is if you have it stocked up then you will have it.  But if  it goes to that and people find out you have it then they will kill you and take it.

Could you still get food, water, medicine, etc. at the stores in 2008 when U.S. Economy collapsed? Of course you could. The panic about the Greece debt crisis, which has been going on since 2010, and needing to stock up on supplies is complete overkill. Sure, it has and will affect our financial markets, but this isn't some doomsday preppers scenerio.

The fear is that Greece will default on their debt. Is it realistic that the US will default on their debt? No, it's not. The US takes in revenue 10 times greater than it's debt payments. So yes, if you what is happening in Greece could happen in the US, you probably don't understand what is going on in Greece.

The US economy did not collapse in 2008.  And yes it is very realistic that the US will default on their debts.  We are trillions and trillions in debt.  Do far in debt that seeing the numbers written out would be hard for most to comprehend or be able to figure out what the numbers actually is.

I do not know how people in Greece are reacting but I do know how people here act.  If there were to be a hold put on bank accounts and people were not allowed to withdraw but $60 a day and not have access to their own money I could only imagine what would happen.   

There's no precise definition for an economic collapse, so whatever you want to consider 2008 is up to you. The point that I was making was that the 2008 situation was much worse for the US than the Greece situation is currently for the US. That's why preparing for doomsday scenerios that didn't even happen in 2008 is overkill.

To clarify my point on the US threat of the default, again I will point out the US takes in revenues that are 10 times greater than their debt payments. For comparison, when it comes lending, banks consider having monthly revenues that >2.7 times monthly debt payments to be a "healthy" ratio. There no realistic immediate threat of default. Long-term, we keep borrowing, keep stacking the debt, we could realistically find ourselves in a situation similar to Greece. But that's nowhere close to the near future.

[hawkeye3210]

I would have some extra food, water, medicine, and cash on hand . . . just in case it happens here.

Why? It's sounds like you have no idea what is going on Greece.

people find out you have it then they will kill you and take it.

 Is it realistic that the US will default on their debt? No, it's not. The US takes in revenue 10 times greater than it's debt payments. So yes, if you what is happening in Greece could happen in the US, you probably don't understand what is going on in Greece.

IF the US takes in 10 times greater than the amount of it's debt then why are we in debt?  Why are we borrowing money from China?  Why has the government shut down at least 3 different times because they didn't have the money to keep it running?  Why were military personnel not paid at one point?  Why are military personnel being laid off or cut because we can't afford to pay them?

Debt payments, not debt. We still spend money on other things. If we take in 10 times our debt payments, we aren't at risking of missing a debt payment.