Money Flees Greece, Spain and Portugal

I have already pointed out that the youth in Greece, Spain and Portugal are leaving their countries, as the interventionist governments in their native lands make it impossible for them to find jobs at home.

Not surprisingly, money is also fleeing these countries. Ed Yardeni has the stats and an instructive charts:

M2 money supply growth rates are plunging in Greece (down -16.8% y/y through February), Spain (down -4.7%), and Portugal (-3.8% through January). It is up only 1.3% through February in Italy.

Germany’s M2 is up 7.5% y/y through February. Some of that growth is coming from Greece, Portugal, and Spain, where money supplies are falling as depositors move their funds to banks they deem to be safer in Germany.

Before this is all over, the eurozone experiment will have resulted in turning much of the southern eurozone into a third world zone.