No Safe Haven For Investments in Europe
July 18, 2008 · By Shane Edwards
After Charles’ comments about impending doom on the USA, and his recommendation of Europe as an alternative place to invest, I was gratified to see my remarks backed up today by reports about a Spanish housing market collapse and Europe teetering closer to a recession than even America.
According to the piece, Europe dealt with a 4% inflation rate right now, despite the soaring value of the Euro. Contrast this with America’s average, running almost the same.
As I said before - the only safe investment right now is in human capital, but as a society we’re intent on aborting away our future and leaving it in the hands of those few places in the world which are still growing - on the backs of polygamy and oppression of women. That old song lyric from the 80’s “children are our future” rings hollow in the me-centered, narcissistic culture we fawn over, but yet where else can you put your treasure?
Guys guys, a couple of things:
Economic downturns are the best time to buy investments, not the other way around. You make money when you buy low and sell high.
To focus to much on the nationality of the company you’re interested in investing in is short-sighted. The domestic economy of a particular investment should only one of many different factors when considering the overall value of the investment.
Plus, Europe is a continent, not a country. If we’re going to compare economies, lets at least do it the context of country to country (eg. France vs United States).
However, I think you’ll find that overall companies in the United States have greater investment potential than most European companies - not to mention that the investment environment is more favourable in the United States. But again, these are massive generalizations that really are meaningless when trying to choose a wise investment.
I disagree. While we are used to considering individual countries in Europe distinctly, the EU is becoming more and more centralized in its economic, monetary and political policy. That is why the Irish vote a couple weeks ago was so important. Ireland blocked the continuing erosion of national sovereignty within the EU, but that won’t last long. It looks like either they will find another legal loophole to pretend that Ireland approved the treaty, or they will simply keep them voting until they arrive at the “right answer”. Not the most democratic perhaps, but the point is the same - Europe is becoming a bloc - a union of states just like the USA.
The question in my opinion is irrelevant anyway. In today’s integrated global economy, if a major player like America falls into a major recession, the rest of the world will follow suit. The only people who want this are people who think the destabilization of the globe is to their advantage.