(Originally posted on Irish Left Review.)
Following on from the publication of “Towards a New Economic Narrative“, I interviewed Michael Taft about his ideas for the Irish economy. I started off by asking Michael what was actually wrong with the Irish economy, and what was his strategy for getting the economy working in the short-term, with […]
Interview with Michael Taft:
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€132 billion.
That’s how much Ireland Inc. owes in mortgages.
€32 Billion.
That’s how much Ireland Inc. has ‘invested’ in buy-to-rent properties, around €23 billion of that taken out in the past five years.
Thing is, this figure contains mortgages that were taken out on vastly-overpriced properties, and as such, any move to re-capitalize the banks must go with […]
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Posted in Economy, Fianna Fáil, Irish journalism, fuckwits, Banks, Irish Economy, Fine Gael, PDs, Greens, Politics on Nov 18th, 2008 1 Comment »
That was then…
Ireland’s decision to guarantee Irish banks’ deposits and debts for two years to calm investor concern could be followed by other countries. This may be a template for rescues elsewhere if Irish banks can replenish their capital base,” Harvinder Sian, a fixed-income strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in London said […]
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“”All I’m saying is that I want to take one step back to take two steps forward,” Batt O’Keefe on Education cuts.
I teach History and English in a medium sized secondary school in Wexford Town. My sister lectures Economics in an Institute of Education. We don’t talk about it much but a big part […]
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The Fianna Fáil plan to fix the systematic problems within the Irish banking system is… to mortgage the entire country in order to keep the system running the same way as before.
The contradiction inherent to that decision - to fix a broken system by ensuring it runs the same way as before - is […]
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Short-sighted economic policy?
Property bubble burst?
Severe credit-crunch?
Erectile dysfunction?
If you are ticking all of the above boxes, (except maybe, ahem, the last one), then you’re probably in Ireland in 2008, or Sweden in 1992.
Sixteen years ago, Sweden was looking down the barrel of an insolvent gun. Its housing bubble had burst, resulting in a credit crunch […]
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“But most of them are honourable, good, solid people. And the point is that if you put your balls on the table, you get the reward or you get the kick. It can go one way or the other. Guys are now feeling the squeeze and if it goes on, a lot of them are […]
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In 1972 Rosita Sweetman wrote the following in her book, On Our Knees: Ireland 1972:
You may wonder why the Fianna Fail government doesn’t do something about controlling the price of land, the building of houses and general accommodation problems in a city bursting at the seams…If you are still sceptical, you might take a trip […]
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Posted in Irish Economy on Sep 4th, 2008 3 Comments »
In its statement yesterday the Government conceded that “a tax shortfall of at least €5 billion for 2008 is likely at this stage”. Even allowing that the Government incurs no overruns on the spending side and succeeds in its savings campaign, this would leave the overall Government deficit this year at 3.3 per cent of […]
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Well, it’s taken a while, but the message finally got through. There’s a serious problem with the Irish economy, and the government has come up with a stirring plan to set thing right and get the ‘aul party going again.
We all know how serious “sentiment” (cough) is to the whole shebang, so we need […]
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