Cyprus: A Wake-Up Call. Rethinking Money

Transcript

[Music] everything's zero now it's like a tsunami it's nothing nothing's going to be left people have no jobs now and if we didn't start it the problem didn't start yet problem is going to start next month F month summer time when everything's going to fall down like a domino one after the other one cuz we don't trust the bank Europe doesn't doesn't trust the our banks

people our people don't trust our banks so it's going to be a domino it's going everything's going to fall down people lose the jobs lose the business no draft nothing it's going to be disaster uh when you destroy the whole economy in

just one day like Euro group and our government did uh by pushing just one pton and destroy the whole structure of the economy and the whole society you have to find a way to weigh out and I think euro is not the way out and I'm pretty sure that okay maybe it's not Cy was the first country to do that but um I think that the country is going to do that maybe Spain maybe gree maybe Portugal I don't know but I'm I don't think euro is going to survive after all this crisis yes of course I'm personally affected uh and I'm sure that the whole society is affected because it's not

just about money it's it's the whole you know uh people are in shock for what is happening now in the banks because they they are not sure for the next day so if we are talking about money of course when the their the banks are closed for almost two weeks uh and you don't have the way to withdraw money from the banks you have serious problem daily I pay my suppliers by cash and the customer pay by cash most of the customer pay by cash because I'm a small

supermarket and so they don't know what's going to happen everybody pay cash this is a big problem it's going to be bigger next week and the following week because everybody in ask they don't accept checks and they have all the suppliers small or big they need cash even € 30 I got a delivery with €30 35 cash no more credit for nobody they said so it's going to be a big problem the people they have they don't know what's going to happen tomorrow so they're not sure so they don't buy a lot of things they buy only the milk and the bread want tomato one C cber yes when the news first broke um I think

the general feeling was absolute shock and disbelief uh I think people felt robbed um and scared that it was just the tip of the iceberg what's going to happen next okay we uh were talking to some friends who heard of a a person or a young a couple English couple who decided to go back to the UK before all of this broke uh and they sold their house and put the money in the bank prior to going back to the UK to find their house and obviously it's a huge amount of money that's in the bank and now they're faced with not being able to buy a home back in the

UK I think the the fault of the crisis is basically self-inflicted I think that it's something that's gone on on the island which has not been unknown and uh maybe there's been a little bit of putting the head in the sand and thinking it's going to go away unfortunately that hasn't happened and uh I think that um you know the governments to blame to a certain exent for not acting quick enough to resolve the issue and to address it earlier on the the problem start start from the bankers with the golden boys from the government and after from the European Union and the Cyprus people from the population from the Cyprus people we didn't know we to stop they

don't give us a limit give us un limit keep going no problem hit the gas and going and now we crash everything was nobody stop us nobody say hey that's enough slow down so you have more time to enjoy it now finish people tomorrow will be expecting to get their paychecks um but uh I'm pretty sure that uh many companies will probably go immediately bankrupt so a lot of people will be out of work uh the the the companies that will manage to stay afloat for a while uh will either have to U find a way to pay wages later on so

you can imagine that there will be a ripple effect in the economy um and um in that sense there won't be any jobs left for me and that's why I'm moving back to Athens tomorrow we are living a very difficult time now and the worst are coming so uh I think leaving euro is an answer I mean changing and having your own uh currency is um it's a tool for the government to make some changes and and and go out with that crisis faster of course it's going to be difficult but um

we have to do something in Europe cot are cannot do anything I mean the the policy is coming straight from Euro group the government cannot do anything so uh knowing that the Euro group doesn't care too much for the people uh I would not give them the power to to decide for Cyprus I I think it it it wouldn't be uh too far off to say that we're talking about uh economic kudah in Cyprus and

uh they they they've stolen the money there's no two ways about it so who's to blame a little I guess we could also uh ask why did Cyprus come to this position to be in such a v vulnerable position for uh for the uh Central Bankers um there are many factors I guess Cyprus as an economy probably invested too much in the banking sector uh they've made mistakes they've made huge mistakes and uh we're we're learning about them right now uh like the way they handled the uh the Greek PSI haircut or um how they um uh just um wiped out loans like uh loans

that they gave out to politicians and they then they just rot them off so there's a lot of scandals there there was there's a lot of fault for everybody here but the real culprit uh is uh is the ECB and the uh Global Financial system as it's set up which is why I believe Bitcoin is is could be the next revolutionary thing the the next next thing that that can be a game Cher for uh the people well I'm I'm pretty sure that some people are going to uh take their their money from the banks the initial reaction of everybody um has been well I'm just going to take

my money out of the bank and I'm going to stick it under my bed um of course that's not the sensible thing to do I think people are now worried about um the knowledge that people have drawn their cash out so is their money safe in their house even because I think that will the security will will have a uh have an impact I think people will be locking their houses up much more than they did before uh and I think people will start and think if I can't trust the bank what else can I do with my money how can I protect myself for my future yeah I think alternative solution is what people will look for they've had a big scare obviously in the money market a lot of people have lost a lot of money they will be seeking Alternatives but equally what they will

be looking for is for safe Investments and you know you'll go back to the old Matrix of high medium and low risks and it will depend on their circumstances and their age what they're actually looking for they may go for the safety of buying you know uh precious metals gold silver Etc um and looking at different Alternatives that are actually out there as a safeguard until maybe this crisis over as a head of dealing in financial institution here in uh uh Cyprus I think that people should have the freedom to choose their own currency um Bitcoin is a good alternative uh like some of our employees uh did um was four months ago transferring some of their money because

it didn't feel felt safe in the banks uh to Bitcoins and I think today they're really happy about it to me I I can see uh a future where we might have competing currencies competing U uh C Bank issued currencies like the Euro or the dollar or U competing U virtual currencies like Bitcoin or Litecoin or whatever other kind of coin comes out uh but right now it looks like Bitcoin is at the Forefront of this in the past I've actually um invested um a small amount of money into precious metals i' had the opportunity a few years ago of buying some gold at a

very good rate be it 30 odd years ago I paid PA $300 an ounce for my gold and obviously with the recent um increase in the gold value it actually has given me quite a lucrative return be it on a small basis so there are opportunities out there for people to look at different Alternatives but it's longterm you don't making money the next day uh I don't think people understand their money you know and I don't think people actually uh realize the value of it and what things are worth and again coming back to where I was earlier on I think that people will be seeking different alternatives to what they can do with their money and understanding it more I think that's the thing you know you just

cannot keep printing this uh great big uh amount of notes I'm running on so this is be big lesson for us not only for Cyprus for other countries too for Europe because this problem is going to go to Europe again Poland Romania Spain Portuguese it's going to affect everybody have to beig lesson we didn't listen they learn lesson from Greece look what happened to Greece came to Cyprus of course it's going to continue other people have to listen learn from our lessons so this is money this is a good

money we have seen with our own eyes how ordinary people are suffering from The Current financial system off camera one of them said he felt like a financial prisoner held hostage by his own government with this documentary we have tried to capture their thoughts and feelings we want to invite people around the world to think of a better more honest money system a world in which individuals are free to choose their own currencies whether that is paper money Bitcoin gold silver or something else and in any combination in a free Society we hold the freedom of choice sanang and value the ability to choose

between multiple goods and services why should this not apply to money as well heah