GONE WITH THE WIND

PUT YOUR MONEY ON THE BANK, BUT DON’T BANK ON IT!The fall of 2008: brittle bills in autumnal colours present zero value

People lost vast sums of money in what will be known as the American banking crisis of 2008, now a full blown monetary depression in the whole of the Western economy, including China. Example: a friend of mine lost 90.000,00 Euros (126.130,45 USDollars) in stocks over a period of five months. This was no wealthy juppy trader for who such a bleeding presented just a minor scratch. This friend now has no pension left whatsoever. His stocks will not go up again in tread with the ups and downs of the illusive trading market, as we are led to believe. No, his stocks are no more, they are ex-stocks, his stocks have gone to meet their maker. Vanished, gone with the wind.

Many (Dutch) pensionfunds, once considered the pillars of finance and wealthy beyond belief, are now in serious debt, not able to match the pensions of those who contributed to their expansion with a sense of trust and comfort about their future finances. Those contributors were robbed out of a secure old age. And those who did the robbing are not being held accountable. In the world of flawed accountancy the real culprits remain at large, flying business class.

European IceSave adventurers will, in the majority of the cases (the fortunate cases), only see up to 100.000,00 Euros of their lost savings refunded. A Dutch saver will receive 20.000,00 Euros from the Iceland government and 80.000,00 Euros from the Dutch government. If you were unlucky enough to have trusted this frigid bank with more than 100.000,00 Euros, it’s adios, adios my little darlings. Gone with the northern winds.

All over the Netherlands large banks are battling each other to the death over the meagre savings of the Dutch. As current interest rates are poor, many choose to cash in stocks, deplete bank accounts and go back to that traditional nest-egg in the form of a knitted sock or two filled to the rim, stacked away in impossible places.
‘Come save with me’, that merry banking tune has lost much of its appeal. The large financial institutes have major repairs to do before any sucker will do a deposit worth mentioning again.

Have a safe year. With lots of interest.