Is collapse of Euro near?

This is the obvious question that everyone is asking these days.  Will 2012 be the end of the financial and economic world as we know it?  With Euro going, Europe will no longer be the same again.  The economies around the world will face the ripple effect of that event, far more, probably, than the 2008 meltdown.As per some people, the comparison is not a good one.  Why?Politically US and Europe are different (Imogen Lloyd Webber: Euro Collapse)

Politically, despite everything that has gone on in America recently, in the US there is actually a cohesive political system. America is one country that when it comes down to it, speaks the same language. In 2008 America’s politicians came together and made some decisions for the good, in their minds, of your nation. America is, in times of trouble, the United States Of America. Europe is not the United States Of Europe. It is the Disunited States of Europe. It is not one nation — the monuments on Euro notes are fictional so no country’s national pride is offended. In Europe, seventeen leaders — and sometimes 27 — ALL have to come to an agreement on a decision. And then go home and sell that to seventeen — and sometimes 27 — democracies. Europe literally and figuratively does not speak the same language. Thus these leaders have always been behind instead of ahead of the crisis curve.

And even economically:

Economically, America has a key weapon at its disposal: not only is it the world’s reserve currency but the Fed can print as much money as is needed to finance its borrowing. The countries in the Eurozone do not have this power — those that have run into big trouble so far, the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) do not have their own individual central banks that they can rely on to print money and buy their debts.

Greece’s banking system is on the verge of complete collapse. (The Collapse Of The Euro)

In Greece, approximately 20 percent of all bank deposits have been withdrawn since the start of 2011.

And so is Italy’s (US Jobs Cheer Cut Short By Euro Crisis)

Italy’s benchmark 10-year bond yield edged further above 7 percent, a borrowing rate that is considered unsustainable over the longer term. Italy, along with many other European governments, has to roll over huge amounts of debt in coming months. It is trying to restore investor confidence in its public finances to get those bond yields down and pay lower rates when it raises cash from capital markets.

George Soros has reiterated this in a business event in Bangalore. He said clearly that this collapse will be worse than the meltdown in 2008. (Soros: European crisis more dangerous)

Europe’s debt crisis is more dangerous than the 2008 global financial crisis, billionaire investor George Soros said. “We now have a crisis, which in my opinion is even more serious than the crash of 2008,” Soros said on Monday at a business event in the southern Indian city of Bangalore .

What do you think?  Is Europe headed for a disastrous 2012?  How will that impact the world?

George Soros, Euro

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