Winning Merkel's Praise: Amid Quiet Suffering, Irish Pave Road to Recovery By Marco Evers Didn't knew that Ireland had to support the bond holders of dead banks. Anyways, hang on Ireland!
Irelands problems go far deeper than this. Even during the good old days of the Celtic Tiger, the entire economy was built off foreign companies, hence they had the highest GDP in the EU and the lowest GNP (more or less). Ireland became a massive money laundering scheme for US and UK companies. Ireland has a very low rate of corporate tax, which goes against EU competition laws, and what have the EU done about it? Nothing! Moreover, the EU stated that Cork was an "impoverished area" when Ireland sought to get approval for a new US Pharma site (and all the tax breaks which come with it). Have you been to Cork? Impoverished area my arse! They're all driving around in BMW's! And what's changed? Nothing! There's still no home grown industry, only US/UK businesses in Pharma & Chips. As soon as the tax breaks go, so do the corporations. What sort of a sustainable model is this? To blame are both the EU and Ireland. The deal to assist Ireland with EU funds (AKA our tax money) should have been a requirement to develop internal industry, other than that supporting foreign industry. The EU dropped the ball yet again, effectively causing the bubble which Ireland was inevitably going to hit, regardless of the US housing bubble.
That's just not true,our GDP is higher than our GNP but not by that much, and our GNP per capita is still above the EU average. No it doesn't and if it does provide evidence for your assertions. Parts of Cork city are quite well off the county (the largest in ireland) as a whole is not and did it ever cross your mind that much of the prosperity you see in cork is a caused by those factories? That is simply untrue Ireland has many home industries and not all out pharma companies are foreign their are many smaller companies that produce generic drugs for export there are two in my small hometown of 5,000 What the bubble in Ireland had little to do with foreign manufacturing companies and everything to do with the low interest rates set by the ECB and the horrible lending practices of EU banks. The Irish bailout is happening not for the good of irish people but to insure that we continue to pay the bad debts accrued by irish banks owed to continental european and UK banks. You are lending us money, for which we must pay interest, with which we then through our now defunct or nationalised banks are paying back to your banks. And the only reason we are being lent the money is so we don't default on the debts accrued by private banks forcing your government to support your own banks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_Tiger#Tax On this link you can also read up on the causes of the Celtic Tiger bubble - when inflation ran riot. I'm not slagging Ireland here, but the exact same conditions exist now as then - GDP based off foreign investment. Elan was the only significant money earner, most of the money came initially from the EU, but subsequently from IBM, Wyeth, Pfisor, SB etc... And they took their money home. This article explains it a little further, in terms of GDP and GNP. http://mahalanobis.twoday.net/stories/364826/ One of the main problems has been the massive rise in rate of change of wages; they went through the roof and Ireland was starting to become uncompetative. It was fine before the global bubble, as internally, goods and services simply matched incomes, but when the bubble burst, wages came down, on a grand scale. Here again, we see the problems caused by the allowance of a sudden bubble: I'm not taking a pop off Ireland here, I'm simply stating facts. Ireland has been naive and a little greedy (haven't most countries), but the issue of being able to generate it's own income still evades it.
That is not freedom and democracy, that is foreigners invading and conquering without an army. What if what these organizations decide "what has to happen next" is rejected by the Irish people? Is there any recourse for them? No.. none. You sir, are destroying Democracy in favor of technocratic tyranny. You, and the EU commission, and the ECB, and the IMF are treating sovereign nations as if they are not. Ireland is its own separate nation, as is Greece, and Spain and France, etc and shouldn't have to accept the dictates of some foreign power.
No they don't the country is still relatively prosperous and the gains of the 90's even up to 2001 were real gains in productivity and living standards. Irish are still far better off now than the citizens of most european countries. There was a bubble it burst but we are not destitute.
Ireland had an election about six months ago. If We had voted in a radical leftist party then we could have decided to leave the bailout and abandon the euro and our debts. But we didn't we elected as the largest party a center right party and a government who have and are committed to continuing the policies ( read bailout) of the last government. The government of Ireland decided to accept a bailout and yes there are consequences to that. The government of ireland could also have decided not to be bailed out in which case we'd be making all the same cuts but harder and faster than the bailout gives us lee way to.
The Cletic Tiger wasn't a bubble it was the massive growth of ireland during the 90's. In that article tax is given as one of four reasons why it happened. though many would argue that the phenomenon was far more complex than that. And for all that I hear non-Irish whining about our low tax rates they seem to completely miss the point that if the only reason companies pick Ireland is our low tax rate then if we were to raise it the companies will simply locate to the coutry with the next lowest rates, namely switzerland. And I'd love to see how you propose to bully switzerland into raising theirs. The bubble came after joining the euro and getting the low interest rates that were necessary for any growth in the sclerotic german and french economies. No thats not true and fundamentally misrepresents the nature of the irish problem. I know the difference between GNP and GDP but again your facts as given in your first post are flat out wrong we have a higher GDP than GNP but out GNP is still above the EU average and that link doesn't contradict that. And what caused wages to go through the roof? Entry to the Euro which allowed massive amounts of cheap credit to flow into an already booming economy. WHICH WE COULD NOT STOP BECAUSE WE WERE IN THE EURO. The allowance of the suddden bubble? The Irish government in joining the euro gave up the only policy measures that could have effectively counteracted the bubbble Raising interest rates or increasing capital reserves. I don't care what you think you are doing the fact is that your post come across as woefully mininformed or willfully ignorant. Irish workers remain amoung the most productive and longest working in Europe. The work force is highly educated and english speaking. And anyone with the fainest knowledge of economics will tell you that is the interest rates are two low for an economy it encourages speculation and yes causes bubbles. The only way to counteract that? Raise rates. or fource banks to hold more to discourage lending which again we couldn't do because we joined the euro.
Don't post tripe. Address the points I've made or go away an inform yourself. Because I am sick of having to correct those who post complete nonsense on the Irish problem. I am fed up with seeing ignorant right wingers claim that Irish problems came as a result of government spending. And your first post if not quiet that ridiculous and came quiet close in the depth and breath of ignorance they display of the Irish problem.
Wouldn't it be better to suffer as a free and sovereign people rather than give yourselves over to foreign powers and become virtual slaves to bond holders in other nations that will work in their best interests and not your own? I have more respect for the Greeks, socialistic as they may be at least they realize that they have borders and control of all the land within those borders and they aren't about to let foreigners come in and tell them what to do, no matter the consequences. Americans would never make such compromises.
Frankly no, I find the greek response to be utterly childish. Ireland made mistakes. We can fix it repsonsibly and pay our bills or we can throw a tantrum stamp our feet about evil "furriners" default and beggar ourselves.
I didn't say you were I compared you to them. You have failed to provide evidence of any of your claims. Google David McWilliams Articles. Or read "Follow the money". Or read fully through the wikipedia article you posted.
