Questions on Dollar Collapse

In response to an essay on – Is a Dollar collapse likely? These are some readers questions

“US debt is high, but so is European debt”.

Could you perhaps elaborate on that or point me to articles that discuss European debt?

National debt in EU countries is a real problem. Countries like Italy already have a national debt of over 100% of GDP, but, demographics mean that the ratio of retired people to workers is increasing making future debt likely to grow. Good article here in Times – EU debt

also: UK National Debt

Is it certain that European countries will slip into a recession (by classical definition, and if so, who will and how deeply)?

I’m sure EU countries will slip into technical recession. How long will the EU recession last?
Depends on:

• Extent of financial crisis spreading to EU banks
• Depends how much EU house prices fall
• Depends how much global economy slows down
• The response of the ECB and whether lower rates would actually boost spending amongst EU consumers
• Will the Euro continue its appreciation making it more difficult for EU exporters.

Gold looks like such a good investment at the moment.” How can you advise one to invest in Gold, and how can a person like myself start?

I think Gold is a good investment (though be wary of a speculative bubble in Gold). You could just buy shares in gold companies. Or I presume you could buy Gold stocks direcly. But, being an economist I have no money to invest, so actually, I don’t really know.