re: And boom...Euro go bye-bye (Gazprom news)

quote:

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Maybe I am not a normal person, but after living in Europe for a while, I find the life here quite comfortable

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Life for ordinary people was quite good as recently as the 1960s, but the situation has declined since then. Industry collapsed and government policy hollowed out the countryside. Jobs are scarce, pay is bad now, taxes are high, and with the Euro, the cost of living has climbed precipitously.

Cheaper consumer goods masks some of the problem. Cell phones are cheaper now. Televisions are cheaper. But core goods, food, are much more expensive. Restaurants are especially expensive.

People don’t eat out the way they used to. It used to be a staple of life. One of the small joys in life.

The cost cutting shows up in small ways. AC as an option on cars. Prepaid vacations, the French invented those because holidays were too risky for people who had to calculate their expenses to the dollar.

I was talking with my family earlier this week. They expect the next 12 months to be very bad.