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Re:Macron says €300B in EU savings sent to the US every year... by mrtksn on Thursday January 22, 2026 @01:35PM (#46723340)
Even the poorest EU countries are actually surprisingly wealthy.

Bulgaria was switching to Euro on the new year’s eve and the easiest way to convert Leva to Euro was to put the money into the bank, so Bulgarian deposits reached 100B+ levas into personal accounts by November which converts to ~50B+ Euros. Which is over 10K Euros per Bulgarian adult. Not bad for the poorest country, considering that home ownership rate is also very high(%86 IIRC).

The life is pretty good for a GDP per capita of $18K.

Re:Macron says €300B in EU savings sent to the US every year... by torginus on Thursday January 22, 2026 @02:27PM (#46723993)
Home ownership can be a deceptive stat in Eastern Europe - many people don't register their address at the place they rent - in part because they're renting it under the table.

Tons of folks also live with their parents into their 30s.

Re:Macron says €300B in EU savings sent to the US every year... by alecco on Thursday January 22, 2026 @05:24PM (#46725913)
The Spanish taxman announced this week they will consider a taxable gift when adults live at their parents home. Anything to keep the juicy inflation-adjusted pensions and their votes.

When people talk about EU home ownership, savings, etc. they often neglect to mention the skew of the Boomer class. It really sucks for young people.

Re:Macron says €300B in EU savings sent to the US every year... by sgloutnikov on Thursday January 22, 2026 @02:17PM (#46723853)
Those numbers are quite off. The total amount of Leva in circulation at the end of 2024 was round 30B. End of November 2025 in circulation around 23B.
Re:Macron says €300B in EU savings sent to the US every year... by mrtksn on Thursday January 22, 2026 @02:19PM (#46723880)
Here’s a source: https://sofiaglobe.com/2025/12/23/on-the-eve-of-the-euro-zon...

By the mid January %58 of the leva were removed from circulation BTW.

Re:Macron says €300B in EU savings sent to the US every year... by sgloutnikov on Thursday January 22, 2026 @02:24PM (#46723937)
Total deposits in the bank accounts sure. I understood it as they deposited 100B of their cash into their bank accounts by November.
Re:Macron says €300B in EU savings sent to the US every year... by mrtksn on Thursday January 22, 2026 @02:39PM (#46724152)
fair, edited for clarification