Last Wednesday evening, in thick snow, as cars slid and sneaked tentatively past the wonderful Church of Ireland church In Monkstown – the one built like a chess set – I hopped on the 7 bus.
The driver was courteous and good humoured as he ferried dozens of people safely home.
There was no grumbling from him, just doing his job, lugging a 20,000kg people-carrier through Dun Laoghaire, up the Sallynoggin Hill around icy roundabouts, whistling as he went. As I waited to get off the bus, he looked in the mirror, winked, laughed and said: ‘‘Mind yourself now, head, Happy Christmas.” I thought to myself, he has taken me home, but how will he get home?
Where does he live?
He was about the same age as me, possibly with a young family, so where could he have afforded to buy and settle down in the boom?
Dublin Bus drivers earn €33,000 per year.
The chances are that he lives in one of the many new estates around Dublin and bought his house in the early 2000s. So he is in negative equity, facing higher taxes in the future – and, who knows, perhaps cutbacks at Dublin Bus.
As a driver of the number 7, he will be based at Donnybrook garage.
There are not too many bus drivers living in the D4 or D6 areas, so how will he get home? Who will take him home in the snow after the last bus, which he will be driving, has stopped running?
It is public sector workers like this man who have kept the country running in the snow. It is lads like this on the average industrial wage who get up early, trudge into work and take the rest of us from A to B. People like this didn’t cause the bust.
People like this didn’t lend to Anglo – or borrow from it. People like this won’t be bailed out by Nama; nor will they get paid obscene salaries to transfer bad loans from one state entity, AIB, to another state entity, Nama.
Rarely has the gross unfairness of our country been put in such relief as it will be this Christmas.
Our government believes that it is fair to ask this bus driver to pay for the gambling debts of the people who lent to Anglo Irish, AIB and Bank of Ireland.
The bus driver has already paid in decreased services and negative equity, but now he will be asked to pay again, this time in the form of higher taxes, to bail out the likes of Deutsche Bank that lent to AIB. If this corporate heist isn’t evident now, it has to be stated again and again, and every single day up to the next election.
The reason it should be is because this is a system called capitalism. If we drop the very essence of capitalism- rewarding success – and we replace it with a system that rewards monumental failure and gives the bill to the average worker who is innocent, then we undermine the entire country.
As a consequence, the election in March has to be a referendum on the banks. This country can remain solvent and can recover, but only if we separate the banks from the state.
Once we have done this, we must answer the question: who pays?
Who will pay for the misadventures of the European banking system? I say the European banking system because, for every borrower on the periphery of Europe, there was a lender in the core of Europe.
The euro has led to a huge cascading of funds out of the core banks into the periphery banks. Trichet has presided over a huge inter-bank, inter-country Ponzi scheme.
According to the Bank of International Settlements, the Irish, Greek, Spanish and Portuguese banks owe the German and French banks €984 billion.
They know they have very little chance of getting their money back because most of the money is gone, ploughed into construction sites and grandiose building projects which currently stand idle.
Because someone must pay, there are only five ways out of this:
(1) The periphery banks go bust.
(2) The core banks take a huge hit to their capital, with massive write-downs on these dodgy loans to the periphery. ( 3) The periphery taxpayer pays.
(4) The core taxpayer, mainly in Germany, pays.
(5) The ECB pays by printing more money and ‘‘giving’’ cash to the banks on the periphery.
Up to now the solution in Ireland has been that taxpayers in the poor periphery (like my bus driver last night) pay for all the mistakes of the periphery banks, in order to bail out the core banks for their mistakes.
It isn’t so much a policy of ‘‘burn the bondholders’’, as ‘‘burn the bus drivers’’.
This conceit keeps the periphery banks open, screws ordinary workers in poorer countries, and prevents the core taxpayers paying extra – and it is all presided over by the ECB.
But it is grossly unfair and, in extremis, it undermines the euro – because the long-term implication of all this is a prolonged recession on the periphery and the related and ongoing threat of a default.
This default threat is what has been driving up Spanish bond yields, because the markets know that, when they come back from their holidays, this problem will be there to face all of Europe.
2011 will be the year when the euro comes under enormous pressure, and it is hardly likely to end the year the same currency as it started.
This is Ireland’s best opportunity, because an EU-wide crisis gets us off the hook.
An EU-wide crisis is the only event that will prevent Dublin bus drivers paying for the sins of the likes of Sean FitzPatrick and all the Seanie Fitz wannabes at AIB, INBS, EBS and Bank of Ireland.
What does it say about our political elite that it will take a continent-wide crisis to protect the average transport worker, who has worked heroically in the past few days of ferocious snow?
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Great article!
And where does that leave us voters? The lack of leadership on this issue from the main parties is disturbing.
David, Excellent article which serves as a timely reminder of the gross inequalities in our society: a society where politicians of all shades blindly and blithely ignore certain obscenities at work in our democracy: EXAMPLE The average member of the Oireachtas claims more in tax-free expenses/allowances than the bus driver, with the worse offenders making up to 80,000 euros from this element of remuneration alone. These tax-free sums are over an above the c. 90,000 euro salary for a TD. A substantial number of TDs who were voting for a cut in the minimum wage are claiming the equivalent of… Read more »
David.
Couldn’t agree more with this article.
What the article explains is we are all living under a private banking criminal syndicate used by hidden forces to run and control society.
They happen also to control the media and culture and they use it to spoof to the masses that we are living in free market capitalism. Its a lie. We all live in what is known as a collectivist system.
Once again you’ve ‘hit the nail on the head’, David. Why should the ‘outsiders’ have to put their hands in their pockets to bail out the ‘insiders’ and the European banks??? The only thing any sane man or woman can do is when their local T.D. comes a calling during the election campaign is to ask them the questions in regard to what that T.D. is going to do about reversing the IMF/ECB loan and are they in favour of separating private bank debt from sovereign debt. If they don’t give a satisfactory answer to those questions then you tell… Read more »
Great article with well deserved homage to our elite Dublin bus drivers. It was no mean feat of theirs to deliver the service they gave to the public during the snow. They deserve to be given truth about their sellout by craven, incompetent, Goebbels like lying propagandist gobshites like Biffo The Clown and Lenny Wrong. Looking forward in 2011 to a proper one on one interview with Lenny on the banking crisis from someone who knows economics? Perhaps we’ll get this during the election campaign. Maybe we can all draw up a list of questions and DmcW can put these… Read more »
Great Article. Unlike the Bus Driver, the Politicans, who must take responsibility for the mess, can afford to take what is pain to the rest of us.
There are a lot of morons on the average industrial wage too. Bus drivers are secure in their jobs. Public and private sector unions are nothing but a curse in this country. I meet parents all the time that tell me how awful it is that their children are going to be saddled with debt forever because of Seaniefitz. Well boo hoo, these are the same morons who would gladly see their children with a 120% mortgage that takes 45 years to pay off, traipsing around Harvey Norman every weekend buying crap they can’t afford with money they don’t have.… Read more »
John Q Public you’re swallowing part of the propaganda being spread by those in charge..ie that all the money that was borrowed by Seanie Fitz and his mates went to help or was loaned to Irish citizens and somehow turned them into uber consumers.. Read the figures and you’ll see that most of the money loaned to Irish banks, never went into Ireland, but was wired straight back out again. Some of it did fuel the boom in property here, but a hell of a lot never benefited Irish citizens at all. That is one of the biggest cons being… Read more »
ex_pat_northerner I know all about that foreign stuff.
A lot of Joe Soaps bought into Bulgarian property pyramids and got stung. Free will, it’s a bitch!
An election in March has been mentioned in David’s article. I have asked the question before about the 2 byelections in the south east, and understand that a decision in pending, and before the courts. Surely as this decision is of National importance, should be taken more searously by the courts. Already a precedent has been set with the previous decision in the Donegal election. With FF almost certain to loose both byelections again, and also loose the majority in the House. My question, is the Judiciary conspiring to keep this corrupt Government in power by dragging out their decion… Read more »
“As a consequence, the election in March has to be a referendum on the banks. This country can remain solvent and can recover, but only if we separate the banks from the state.”
Does anyone here know which political parties advocate a separation? If the election is to be viewed as a referendum then which, if any, would currently be on the ‘yes’ side?
(BTW John Q – I live in a village of approx 800 people and I could count those who went wild on one hand. Stereotyping the nation?)
Mick Regan, C’mon I’m not stereotyping a nation, just certain age groups and professions. We should be serious and ask ourselves if we really want the celtic tiger back in the form it took. I know all too well the poverty that existed in that era too and never got addressed, that’s why I blow my top when so many Africans get all the benefits here that have cost billions of euros. Let’s put our own people first and live sensibly if we can.
Hi David, I first noticed you on some program about 6/7 years ago and I sat up and listened, you made sense. I thought finally someone who sees what’s going on. I waited for you to be ‘heralded’ … it didn’t happen and I wondered why. After a while I realised no one wanted to hear you, there was no place for you in the ‘frenzy’. I am delighted that you kept on going. I am relieved that you persevered. I am heartened by your articles and insight … and your ability to put things into perspective. Thank you for… Read more »
Very postive Christmas type article. Several points. First, the lesson for working people over the last two decades is to not believe the mainstream “manufacturing of consent” line on anything. Because those that did are up to their necks in trouble. Because in every society, there are mantras issued to manufacture consent. These comments like “rent is dead money”, “get on the property ladder before it is too late”, and “how many houses to you have ?” “how many stag weekends did you go on to Barcelona/Lanzarotte/Alicante/Amsterdam/Riga ? ” or whereever). 33K is not a lot of money to be… Read more »
This article went into circulation yesterday. http://www.tribune.ie/business/article/2010/dec/26/central-banks-ious-for-insolvent-anglo-could-mean-/ This is a serious indictment of bad management, and bad corporate culture. And it is an indictment against cronyism, and the type of tolerance that exists in the Irish system for recklessness. It also shows the real negotiating position of the state in the midst of the IMF deal. Ireland held by the Ballsbridge bankcentre. No mention of this in RTE or by the Old Schitzo. It the result of liberal banking decisions, and amateurism combined. To quote the Ditherer “the boom is getting boomier”. Now, we face the reckoning of the era… Read more »
This comment is bordering on arrogance (pride).
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/fionnan-sheahan/fionnan-sheahan-martin-ff-badly-needs-major-surgery-after-poll-2474902.html
Somebody needs to tell Michael Martin that the electorate will apply the surgery that he is talking about, possibly in the process getting rid of him. No loss !!!. Where are those cast iron guarantees to the Lisbon Treaty that he talked about ? is he going to tell Sarkozy that he cannot amend the Lisbon Treaty ? Micheal Martin is the type of sly schmoozy useless spoofer who needs to be shoved out of the political establishment and expensive ministerial cars !!
Zzzzzzzz—-zzzzzzz
Freedom To Fascism: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1656880303867390173#
Someone should call ‘The Magnificent Seven’ to defend the position of taxpayers in the coming election. Individual economists and commentators critical to government are being picked off at will by government propaganda. Its even possible government can persuade the public they’ve stabilised the banking system. In actuality they’ve holed the economy below the waterline and while it may appear stable sitting on the water, they’ve put us on a countdown to default. We appear not to have any coordination of response worth talking about to set Banking AS The Main Agenda!
People are also copping on to McUseless.
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/letters/why-was-mcaleese-silent-in-hour-of-need-2475698.html
I have a suggestion. I think that Cowen should propose Calamity as candidate for President. For the sake of continuation from McUseless.
Gormless needs serious criticism over the Ringsend incinerator. The GP are OK with landfill, as long as that landfill is transported to somewhere that does not vote for them. After the next election, they will have the entire country to pick as a suitable destination for landfill sites – because they will be wiped out. Gormless himself is in a rather precarious position. We have constituencies like Cavan/Monaghan, Waterford, Galway West, and Laois-Offaly where the quota is greater than 12,000 to get elected. And we have constituencies like Dublin SE where people get elected on half that. To be honest,… Read more »
This reminds me of ENRON really. ENRON went bust. The leadership were jailed. Its accountants had their license to practice removed, leaving a company with a pristine history an empty shell within years. What do we do here? We pay the leadership gilt edged pensions and undeserved bonuses, and let them thumb their noses at us from the US and other offshore locations while they literally laugh all their way to the bank. No jail for Drumm, Bertie and Charlie McGiveaway. In Iceland they are charging their former leader, ours still laughingly talks about going for presidency. PWC and the… Read more »
great article, anyone in the Limerick area, a group organising loosely under the “claiming our future” is planning a large citizens assembley type event in the new year. we’ll be organising when we get together after the holidays… anyone interested make contact on “Claiming Our Future Limerick” facebook page, or email limerick@claimingourfuture.ie
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1341110/Fresh-humiliation-euro-zone-China-says-bail-debt-ridden-nations.html
“Money as Debt” http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2550156453790090544#
David, I do enjoy you witty way with words. So now we have ‘burning the bus drivers’ to add to our collection which includes such gems as ‘The popes children’ and ‘deck-landers’. Thanks for that. One small problem. I don’t think ‘burning’ is the right word. The bus drivers of this little nation are not being burned, they are being robbed.
“Debunking Money” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uWCOvnOtTI
It’s no wonder we Irish can’t get our act together when you go away and read all the different comments that have been made by the various contributors to this web site.I for one now understand why we’ve ended up in the mess created mainly by FF and the Greens, the bankers and the developers and the rest of the crowd of idiots who’ve contributed in the main to the cess pit we now find ourselves in. Some of your comments make some sense, but the majority of the comments made are only what you could describe as being totally… Read more »
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/kevin-myers/irish-are-lost-for-words-over-thorny-issue-of-immigration-1138994.html
and http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/kevin-myers/the-problem-isnt-racism-its-the-tidal-wave-of-immigrants-1071385.html
Read and learn.
Listened to a very good interview this morning from John McCarthy from Limerick concerning the HSE and the way that the HSE handles depression. It is a complete disaster. Somebody defined “insanity is the process of doing the same thing repeatedly, and expecting different results each time”. This seems to be what the HSE are doing. In the end John McCarthy told that he wanted them to listen to patients – but this is not in their remit. You never heard such nonsense in all your life. What exactly is their remit ? Extracting as much money as possible from… Read more »
This is what you don’t want to hear when NAMA owns many hotels.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1229/tourism-business.html
This occurred despite all the “publicity” the country received from Cowen’s early morning interview, Joe the Trucker driving up to Leinster House, several Anglo incidents, and various other events that got international attention.
I hope this overly expensive, over hyped airport terminal which nobody uses yet might bring some improvement.
However to be honest, with unemployment extremly high in the Shannon region, along the border, and in the South East – these regions are rather distant from T2….
Catching up on some newspaper reading I got time to read last Sunday’s evening and had a great laugh at Willie O Dea. According to O Dea, we’re going to gain from “Two very real benefits” make hundreds of millions of savings on interest payments on the EU/IMF cash. This is because its collateral and won’t all be drawn down immediately. The other benefit is the deal recommends reforms to the legal profession and Courts system. You too can make thousands in savings on your credit cards by not drawing them down to their limits, bet you never knew that?… Read more »
I think that number 5 in Davids article is the most probable outcome. The EU will probably just copy the states and to the dismay of most of the rest of the world just start printing Euros to get out of the mess and help their exports. However these new Euros created from thin air will be lent not given to the periphery. Who knows the limits of the debt to GDP ration. Isn’t Japan’s at 200%. Anyway I was reading the website of the central bank of Japan the other day, quite clear compared to the ECB or FEDs… Read more »
I presume that the Spanish government knows that there is more to economics, and running a country than just another austerity drive…..like increasing private sector hiring…cleaning up the banking system…and even allowing the odd bank to fail if necessary.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1229/spain-business.html
This is important, because Spain is the debt elephant of the Euro-zone. Three million empty residences, a 21% unemployment rate, and bank balance sheets that are mystery to many.
http://www.boj.or.jp/en/type/list/link/cb.htm
Here is a convenient link to all of the worlds central banks homepages, compliments of the Bank of Japan
This article is camaile. Even if we had the perfect default, and gave not a single cent to any bank, we would still have an enormous structural deficit. The bus driver, the garda, the teacher, the nurse, the doctor are all beneficiaries of our borrowing, and must all be thanking their lucky stars for the support of the IMF/EU. Without their help, they are looking at a 40% pay cut. Deep down, I think the public servants out there know this, and are grateful to still be receiving a pay-check. I see Joe Behan quietly put an end to his… Read more »
Paddy this is the typical argument of the private service worker.
Basically teachers educated him, the police make sure his business can operate without being constantly harrased or having his stuff stolen, the nurse and doctor look after his health. Perhaps a visit to central Africa where these public services don’t work so well could give a renewed appreciation.
The role of the business owner should also be respected in his place in society.
Both the public and the private sector people are heavy lifters.
Your 5 ways out are not ways out. They do not lead to a viable real economy. They destroy real capital, or shift it, with pain, chaos, and years of suffering to ensue. But there is at least one other way out, a way that preserves real capital. A Jubilee of Biblical proportions. Forgive all debt. Wipe the slate clean. Create debt free potential borrowers. Make the creditors whole just as you are doing now – by printing paper currency to cover them so they have no losses. Stuff the banks with money they need to lend by replacing their… Read more »
According to today’s papers even The Ditherer thinks the EU/IMF ‘bailout’ was a bad deal… OT Apparently this government have redefined the term pension. Previously it was understood to be a fraction of your salary. But as a full time TD, in Bertie’s case his pension over salary as TD excess will be €60,000. Could we have the Dail immediately reconvene to bring in emergency legislation to deal with this criminal waste asap? No. Then there is the case of reported advisors to the government with salaries in excess of that paid to David Cameron. More rotten potatoes. There’s the… Read more »
It’s going to take a special mind to come up with an alternative to capitalism but… I worry that those with the rare combination of expertise and a lack of vested interest such as David still believe in the merits of capitalism so much as to think (as though it is knowledge) that making the banks private once more will redress the balance or begin the process. Has capitalism not proven that it’s furthest conclusion is a private sector (the industries of banking, law and the corporation) with more power over the fate of the populus than its elected leaders?… Read more »
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