I must admit that one part of me is pleased with this talk of the demise of the Euro and the possible return of national currencies such as the Lira. With a hard-pressed Lira, I imagine that Campagnolo components might become inexpensive, and that a cycling vacation in Italy becomes a bargain.

Is that wrong?

Yeah, to hell with all that economic misery. As long as we can get our bike stuff cheap.

Seriously you might be right depending on how thinks shake out.

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I thought this was going to be about Italian hookers

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r o y g b i v

Oh god I hope that I can loot an EPS TT groupset when the Italian/European economy fails.

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"But when you hit that asphalt down below nothing else matters, your pulse is skyrocketing toward 200"
Speed Concept
Colnago Mapei
S-5 VWD

Do the Greeks make anything we can use?

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^ Gyros? Yum!

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"Let's plunge ourselves into the roar of time, the whirl of accident; may pain and pleasure, success and failure, shift as they will -- it's only action that can make a man."

ask KGT.

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Exp001

Don't worry. No one in Greece wants to leave the euro. Not even the radical left "Syriza" party. They just follow the greek populist "tradition": Tell the voters what they want to hear. See what happens to Italy with Beppe Grillo as well. They both act like the reality does not exist.

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Wilier Cento Uno
Colnago Master X-light
Wilier 18carati

1. We are the largest maritime transport power. We controll 16.2% of the world’s tonnage (with Japan 15.8%, Germany 9.2% and China 8.6%). That means the bikes and components you have are probably carried overseas by us.
2. We have sea, sun and one of the most amazing natural environments in the world. If you do not want to "use" it then don't.
3. We have some of the most important cultural monuments in the world. Buildings and places that are still "living" here after thousands of years reminding us what certain values like democracy mean. But I guess all that may not interest you at all.

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Wilier Cento Uno
Colnago Master X-light
Wilier 18carati

Greece is gonna leave the Euro. Not, probably, due to the election result, but driven out by an inevitable loan default & run on its currency coupled with a change in German government and/or a failure between France & Germany to agree what to do, plus Germanys rigid insistence on maintaing low inflation. (Why has noone in Germany read Minskys analysis of Maynard Keynes???). Whenever you get George Soros and Paul Krugman are in agreement about anything you know theres trouble ahead...

The rest of PIIGS will follow due to market & consumer confidence dropping off a precipice. You read it first here, we are all doomed. Except me, my business will prosper when the Spanish currency devalues, Ive no savings and 2 big mortgages )

i'm hoping the eurozone countries get through the pain, but it's going to be really unpleasant for a lot of people - well, the bankers will have a great time, the rest will suffer, some horribly

the uk is outside the eurozone, but i travel a lot, and really like the convenience and freedom it has brought

getting ripped off by banks on fx every time i need chf, usd, aed, bbd, rsd, pzl, huf, try etc. is annoying, as is the mound of cash that i have sitting here depreciating because it's not worth changing it back

it's just a shame that some of the governments involved couldn't be trusted to stick to the rules and instead took advantage of the euro's strength to indulge in years of overspending, who'd have thought eh

maybe the euro is beyond repair, at least for some countries, i'll be sad to see it go, imho we need more unification not less

So, New Democracy won the Greek election, but it might not matter.

Default and a euro departure is likely the final destination, no matter what.

From a cycling perspective, Greece isn't the greatest cycling destination, nor do they appear to make any choice components. So, the Drachma losing half its value to the Euro won't be a cycling boon.

Not so for Italy and Spain, which are both great cycling destinations, and makers of desirable bike stuff. The return of the Lira and Peseta would be of definite cycling interest.

The fate of the Euro in Greece is interesting mainly in what it may presage for Italy and Spain.

As of right now, Intrade has the probability of any country leaving the Euro this year at 30.2%

Any country currently using the Euro to announce intention to drop it before midnight ET 31 Dec 2012

Funny...

I'm a masseur and one of my clients, an 83 yr old Greek male said to me the other day..."Greeks invented logic but apparently have no use of it"...?

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"It never gets easier, you just go faster..." - Greg Lemond

"Because technology alone is a poor substitute for experience." - Richard Sachs

I don't believe that is correct. According to this data Greece is #4 after Japan, Germany, and then China based on merchant marine capacity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_me ... by_country

Based on this data Greece is #12 after Panama, Liberia, China, Malta, Hong Kong, Singapore, Marshall Islands, Indonesia, Antigua, Bahamas, Russian and then Greece.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publication ... 8rank.html

So I'm not sure stating Greece has the largest maritime transport power is correct.

The terrible unemployment of the Great Depression made a lasting and rather Keynesian impact on Great Britain. The Germans may some day forget Hitler, but they will never forget http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinfla ... r_Republic .