Russian Flu

I feel compelled to comment on this ZeroHedge article.  It has to do with the Greece crisis, which I've been following closely.  It reveals Russia's diminished value in global affairs.  It is a good example of why I have a love-hate relationship with ZeroHedge.  And it reminds me of some praise that has been lacking for Germany.

Greece

Imagine offloading the EBT crowd here in America.  

I figure I'm missing something when anyone says the Greece crisis is a negative for Germany.  Why? There should be celebrations in Germany.  Is there another country that has a reputation for efficiency, engineering, and hard work?  Is there a more polar-opposite of Germany than Greece?  Even the Russians are less-lazy than the Greeks.

Russia

And speaking of Russia.  Could they embarrass themselves more with Putin's latest comment?

Putin is apparently criticizing Germany for the failures of socialism in Greece.  That is like blaming Russia for its backwardness in innovation and technology because the Americans in Silicon Valley created an innovation super-utopia.  It is not Russia's fault we kick ass, and it is not Germany's fault one of its Euro partners is a welfare state on meth.

Russia gets two thumbs down for embarrassing itself, as if their embarrassment from their 1998 default was long forgotten.  This week's headlines announcing Greece's default is the FIRST DEVELOPED country to default should have shamed them into silence.  Even more so since there are recent predictions of another Russian default.  Hey Vlad, try criticizing others from a position of strength for a change.

Wiki:

The Russian financial crisis (also called Ruble crisis or the Russian Flu) hit Russia on 17 August 1998. It resulted in the Russian government and the Russian Central Bank devaluing the ruble and defaulting on its debt.

ZeroHedge

Love and hate.

I visit ZH daily.   It is a great source of news that you cannot find elsewhere.  It is an active blog with many daily posts.  It is a pessimistic view of economic matters, and is a great offset to the rosy sources.  However...

Everybody is stupid except Tyler and his lucky readers.  Many criticisms are framed as 'the trigger' that will bring it all down.  You'll hear "Contagion" a lot.  A keen eye would catch this early and realize many of the predictions and dire warnings are just noise.  If one were to only invest on ZH advice, they would have lost 13% during the Obama years rather than make 300% - as I demonstrated in my last precious metals video.

ZH might be right some day, but some perspective is necessary.  Those of us paying attention saw Greece's default over two years ago with the Cyprus crisis.  We knew Greece was next.  What I'd like to see at ZH is a bell curve of countries with strongest (sustainable, capitalist) economies at one end, and Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Spain and other socialist welfare states at the other.  We'd learn two things:  1) the US is far more stable and secure than the ZH criticism would suggest, and 2) we'll see a US default far sooner than we did the Greece default.

Germany

My only criticism of Merkel:  You shouldn't have bothered with the negotiations.

To Germans:  Congrats on dumping that anchor called Greece.  Keep your standards high - for both yourselves, your country, and those with whom you conduct business.