[Cloud9]

Or, someone is worried that EMP from a Korean nuke may shut the country down.

[Nefarious]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rangerone314', 'T')he logical deduction from specifically embassies stockpiling specifically local currency implies fear of being cutoff from the US and US assistance, and reliance upon local resources. The question is what would make various locales around the world become isolated from other areas.
The logical deduction here is a pandemic, since countries would go into lockdown mode and local cash would be needed for everything, including food. The most likely scenario is the swine flu going pandemic at intensity 2 which could easily kill 1 to 10 million (or more) worldwide.

[rangerone314]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', 'O')r, someone is worried that EMP from a Korean nuke may shut the country down.

[Cloud9]

I'm thinking a scud fired from a freighter in the Gulf of Mexico would do the trick. The shut down does not have to be total, it just has to be significant. Then the cascade starts.

[Novus]

I am actually thinking nuclear false flag event to cover up the greatest heist in history of man. Trillions have been stolen by the worlds bankers and one day there will be hell to pay if there is not the mother of all cover ups.

[Cloud9]

Ticker thinks its the flu.

[Caffeine]

If it were "only" flu, there would be no prejudice against the pound, right?

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('evilgenius', 'A')lstry, over at MSN Caps, just brought this up in his blog too. There is a very scary scenario implied here, that the US will declare bankruptcy. Perhaps that is not what they are gearing for, but it certainly is the implied worst case scenario. I may be a deflationist in the greater argument about what I think is going to happen in all of this, but that doesn't mean I can ignore this. If this is true it at least suggests that hyper-inflation is on the table for consideration amongst those that are making decisions.

[Concerned]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jotapay', 'C')ash is almost a liability in a hyperinflationary scenario.

The reasons they would be doing this could include:
1. Systemic breakdown (pandemic, JIT delivery collapse, war, martial law, etc.)
2. Crushing deflation of the worst kind (for the government to actually stockpile cash)

[rangerone314]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Caffeine', 'I')f it were "only" flu, there would be no prejudice against the pound, right?

[NoWorries]

Not to sound pedantic, but: Has anyone got a credible (ie--mainstream news media) link to corroborate this story? I'd like to see one. Thanks.

[Jotapay]

Market Watch thought it was credible enough to do a whole story about it. I am not 100% convinced it's true, but these days tin foil is tomorrow's news.

[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Concerned', 'I')f your currency is going the way of hyperinflation then having the local currency protects you from having to exchange more and more of your depreciating currency for the local one which may hold steady or appreciate relative to yours.

[ColossalContrarian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('NoWorries', 'N')ot to sound pedantic, but: Has anyone got a credible (ie--mainstream news media) link to corroborate this story? I'd like to see one. Thanks.

[erl]

Sort of as a backup to this story: LEAP 2020 (a European think tank) believes the U.S. and the U.K. will default sometime this summer. They actually specify it to the September/October time frame.

Here is the link:

http://www.leap2020.eu/GEAB-N-36-is-available!-Global-systemic-crisis-in-summer-2009-The-cumulative-impact-of-three-rogue-waves_a3359.html

And a quote:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')n the United States and United Kingdom in particular, the colossal public financial effort made in 2008 and at the beginning of 2009 for the sole benefit of large banks became so unpopular that it was impossible to consider injecting more public money into banks in spring 2009, despite the fact that they were still insolvent (11). It then became necessary to invent a “fairy tale” to convince the average saver to inject his/her own money into the financial system. By means of the « green shoots » story, overpriced stock indices based on no real economic grounds and promises of « anticipated public funding repayment », the conditioning was achieved. Hence, while big investors from oil-producing and Asian countries (12) withdrew capital from these banks, large numbers of small individual investors returned, full of hope. Once these small investors discover that public funding repayment is only a drop in the ocean of public aid granted to these banks (to help them dispose of their toxic assets) and that, after three or four months at best (as analyzed in this GEAB N°36), these banks are again on the verge of collapse, they will realize, powerless, that their share is worth nothing once again.

Intoxicated by financiers, world political leaders will be surprised - once again – to see all the problems of last year reappear, all the more severe since they were not addressed but only buried under piles of public money. Once that money has been squandered by insolvent banks compelled to « rescue » even more insolvent rivals, or by ill-conceived economic stimulus plans, problems will re-emerge, further exacerbated. For hundreds of millions of citizens in America, Europe, Asia and Africa, the summer 2009 will be a dramatic transition towards lasting impoverishment due to the loss of their jobs, with no hope of finding new ones in the next two, three or four years, or due to the disappearance of their savings invested in stocks or capital-based pension funds, or in banking investments linked to stock markets or denominated in US dollars or British pounds, or investment in shares of companies pressured to desperately wait for an improvement not coming soon.

[Homesteader]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Nefarious', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rangerone314', 'T')he logical deduction from specifically embassies stockpiling specifically local currency implies fear of being cutoff from the US and US assistance, and reliance upon local resources. The question is what would make various locales around the world become isolated from other areas.
The logical deduction here is a pandemic, since countries would go into lockdown mode and local cash would be needed for everything, including food. The most likely scenario is the swine flu going pandemic at intensity 2 which could easily kill 1 to 10 million (or more) worldwide.

[cipi604]

I have the flu. It sucks.

[evilgenius]

Another thing I saw mentioned somewhere was that it might be a banking holiday, like that of FDR, that the embassies are prepping for. Right away this is probably not the reason, unless there is a change coming as far as the government's stance on shoring up the banks goes, especially the big multi-nationals which facilitate a lot of currency exchange. Since the original story excluded the pound, however, and Britain has a huge stake in this sector, could it be that this action is not US derived, but UK derived? Does anybody know if the state of some of the largest banks in the UK is at or could be near a point where the government there can't stop an implosion?

[evilgenius]

Maybe this is just a precautionary move by the US anticipating the fall of Gordon Brown's government. If so, then the stockpiling is to ensure against unforeseen consequences related to the changeover of power in Britain most likely rather than the outright expectation of collapse. It would seem a prudent thing to do in that light.

[Grautr]

The flu sounds good but doesnt count for the UK being excluded from their plans.

But the UK has also been running a big deficit since the North Sea peaked in 2000. Maybe the US and UK plan to declare bancrupcy together after screwing down the hatches?