A Reuters journalist got access to an EU document that suggested a move was necessary “to mobilize more personal pension savings for long-term financing.”
For those unfamiliar with EU-speak, all those bank accounts in Cyprus last March were also “mobilized.” It’s a nice way of saying, “We’re about to confiscate some of your wealth.”
Later this year, the European Commission will look into the idea as a way to drum up cash for long-term investments. The document suggests the financial crisis had limited Europe’s ability to fund small companies, infrastructure projects and other investments, and “mobilizing” the wealth of its citizens could be a welcome alternative to yet more bank financing.
The ZeroHedge blog sums up the idea nicely:
“In a nutshell, and in Reuters' own words, ‘the savings of the European Union's 500 million citizens could be used to fund long-term investments to boost the economy and help plug the gap left by banks since the financial crisis, an EU document says.’ What is left unsaid is that the ‘usage’ will be on a purely involuntary basis, at the discretion of the ‘union,’ and can thus best be described as confiscation.”
Realize that this is only a proposal thus far. Brussels isn’t dipping into anyone’s savings account any time soon.
But if it even threatened to do so … well, the Cypriot bail-in was a major catalyst for Bitcoin’s explosive growth in value in 2013. Many Europeans understand, a year later, that cryptocurrencies offer a superior alternative to hiding their money in a mattress.
I’ll stop now before I get too far into fear-mongering territory, but I suggest everyone take a look at the Reuters report. For the morbidly curious, make note of how the Commission seems to have fallen off the wagon and is again looking into “a number of securitization products.”