The big news dominating the business world is the problems surrounding the European Union – more specifically is Greece going to be in or out?
It appears that Greece will stay in the union. Various European leaders have said that if Greece leaves, it will be a disaster. Without the help of the EU, Greece would likely default on its bonds which will hurt a lot of European banks.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a Greek exit would mean “Not a single person would put their money in Europe anymore”. Meaning that there won’t be any investor confidence in Europe.
Well, I disagree. Sure, there will be some unheaval and short term uncertainty, but I think the EU would be better off without Greece. The only reason the Euro banks don’t have to write down Greek bonds now is because their governments are keeping Greece afloat. How long can that arrangement last?
Consider a large company that sells off or even gives away an underperforming division. There will be extra costs associated with the divesture, but the remaining company will be stronger.
I think that the European Union will be stronger if they can remove some of their weaker parts, most of whom shouldn’t have been accepted into the EU in the first place.
Media mentions
Brighter Life blog wrote about five financial frights and what to do about them. They also included a quote from me.
On with the links
Rob Carrick says that fixed rate mortgages are the new variable. Fixed rate vs variable rate is one of those never-ending debates with no answer. Now is one of those times that there can be no doubt that fixed rate mortages are the answer. Read the article to find out why.
Dave from the Canadian Dream blog says that keeping things simple is the key to success. I agree!
Mark Schatzker from the Globe & Mail wrote a very funny post about the Occupy Toronto crowd. Note, if you were part of Occupy Toronto – you probably shouldn’t read this.
Dawn Walton from the Globe & Mail found out that the new energy retrofit program would cost her money. Good analysis.
Krystal wrote an inspiring post saying that young people can make good income.
Retire Happy has three basic steps for retirement planning.
The Oblivious Investor says the key to successful investing is – avoid making big investment mistakes. Excellent post.
Canadian Couch Potato reviewed the book new Millionaire Teacher.
Michael James had an interesting topic with taxing insurance settlements.
Canadian Capitalist analyses the new BMO dividend ETF.
Boomer & Echo talks about the penny.
MapleMoney points out that not everyone needs life insurance.
6 replies on “LinkStuff – Big Fat European Union Edition”
A coach needs to give a dose of confidence when talking to the media about a slumping player. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t bench him (or cut him) the next week.
Thanks for the mention!
John Hempton had a good post about the Greek issue. Basically, it’s no problem if Greece leaves the EU — indeed, that’s probably a clean solution to the mess. The problem is that the day after that happens, there’s a run on the banks in any country that’s seen as likely to follow: Ireland, Spain, and Italy’s problems suddenly get much worse in a hurry.
Thanks for the mention.
Thanks for the link love Mike!
That’s a really interesting post about the mortgage rates. We got a variable with a rate of prime – 0.70%, so it made sense for us to go with that, but if it was between prime variable and prime 4-year fixed, I can see the 4-year fixed making sense. It’s maybe not quite as good as US 15 years at 3.3% and 30-year mortgages at 4%, though. 😉
P.S. A big thank you for using GASP instead of Akismet.