Over the weekend the Greeks voted no to the Eurozone bailout terms

The Greeks ars still hoping for a better deal, hoping to avoid austerity

The irony is that the consequences of their vote will bring on even more austerity, as a return to the drachma will result in a lower-valued currency

For example, pensioners will be paid not in fewer euros but drachmas that buy less

This will mean a huge collapse in the standard of living in Greece - far worse than the "austerity" called for under the Eurozone bailout terms

There is no way out without substantive reforms, particularly in smaller government

The markets are reacting adversely because they want to extend and pretend

The euro will be stronger without Greece, despite comments in the press to the contrary

Fears of "contagion" - other countries leaving - are unfounded

Greece is headed for hardship, but they will have to impose austerity from within they could rebound

Greece has a lot of potential, they have natural resources and a thriving shipping industries

The secret of the success of the shipping industry is that it is not taxed

The answer will be fewer taxes and less government spending

Short term, leaving the Eurozone will be negative for Greece

The Greek vote will be positive for the euro

There is still a flight to the dollar for safety over gold

The reason gold has not benefited from Greek instability is that the dollar is still viewed as a safe haven

More and more economic data reveals how weak the U.S. Eeconomy is

This week the Service Sector PMI for June contracted from 56.8 in May to 54.8

More and more people are looking for a rate hike in December rather than September, but they are still buying the narrative that interest rate hikes are feasible

This belief supports the dollar over gold

Our economy is weaker than other countries whose interest rates are higher

When are the dollar buyers going to realize that they have jumped out of the frying pan into the fire?

The dollar is the grandaddy of the fiat currencies

In light of continued weak economic data and further deterioration in the job market, the Fed will have to come out with another round of QE

That will be a game changer

All the economic news around the world is fundamentally good for gold

At some point the speculative forces that are restraining gold will not hold up

All that stands behind the U.S. dollar is faith

At one point people had faith in Greece, they had faith in Puerto Rican government bonds and in sub-prime mortgages - and then they didn't

When we were on the gold standard, we had real value backing up our money

All that stands between us and economic collapse is the faith we have in a worthless piece of paper