Have you ever seen someone actually sweep something under the carpet? There is a delicious, secretive irresponsibility in the very act.
Many years ago, I remember seeing an old relative do this and being amazed by it, somuch so that,when she left the room, I lay down and peeked under the carpet to see piles of stuff thatmust havebeenbuilding up under there for days. The funny thing about this slovenly old lady is that she lived with her fastidious sister,whoknewdamnwellwhatwasgoing on.Every week, the tidy one would clean up after the messy one, sweeping away the little piles of rubbish fromunder the edges of the carpet.Thereafter,thewhole process would start again.
Whenwe look at the EuropeanUnion, we can hear a sweeping sound as the Europeans try to sweep as much financial rubbish under the carpet as possible.The Europeans – particularly the French – are desperately trying to convince us that the banks’ balance sheets are clean by sweeping the dirty bits under the ECB carpet.TheGermans are like the fastidious sister,who is not prepared to allow the rubbish to build up on the ECB’s balance sheet.
But the problem is that everyone is wise towhat is going on; the world knows what the European banking elite is up to.The very act of evasion makes the problem worse.The French are trying to save their own skins, or at least save their balance sheets fromthe repercussions of their own recklessness.Worse still, they are evoking the name of Europe to justify their grubby little act of financial deception. We should listen to the words of Bismarck about those who evoke Europe to disguise their own actions: ‘‘I have always found the word ‘Europe’ in the mouths of those politicianswhowanted fromother powers something they did not dare to demand in their own name.” Sarkozy is one such politician.He wanted the rest of Europe to pay for SocGen.He does not want France to save theFrenchbanks.Hewants you to save the French banks.How much has changed in three years?
At the beginning of last week, the France of October 2011 was beginning to look like the Ireland of October 2008.By the end of the week, followingMoody’s threat to downgrade France, the 5th Republic looks like a mirror image of Ireland in the dark days of 2008.The French state knows that if it undertakes to prop up its banking system now – as it urged the Irish state to do in 2008 and throughout 2009 – it will contaminate the French sovereign and French bonds will slump.
Last week, French bond yields increased by 0.6 per cent.France wants Europe to pay French debts,yet it wants the Irish to pay for the debts of Irish banks – much of which is owed to French banks. How does that make you feel? France is nowon the hook and needs a European-wide slush fund to bail out its banks. It is, of course, invoking the abstract cause of ‘Europe’ to disguise its own begging bowl.There are many who might conclude that, after a few years of lecturing the rest of Europe on how to behave, the French are getting their just desserts.
Maybe EndaKenny could mischievously raise the issue of loopholes in the French corporation tax system, which allow French companies to pay effectively less tax than corporations in Ireland, and suggest that we should only agree to a euro-wide bailout of French banks if these are closed off immediately. Such a bit of playfulness might wipe the smirk off newDaddy Sarko’s face and, in so doing, remind himthat the EUis a family of nations. When one member of a family is in trouble, they help each other out.The targeting ofour corporation tax rate by France whenwe were without friends was despicable and totally against the spirit of forging a political union.
At the very least, Ireland should see this chaos as an opportunity to stop paying any more to unsecured bondholders of the rogue banks that previously operated here. We should negotiate hard now.But the signals are not good. In the next few weeks, the government seems intent on ploughing ahead with the depraved policy of paying negligent bondholders. InNovember alone, close to $1billionwill be paid by you – the taxpayer – to ‘‘professional investors’’who screwed up by lending to that rogue outfit,Anglo.
Paying thismoney now is ludicrous at a time when our chief European tormentor of last year, France, finds itself a cropper. Most crucially, paying out more money now will not make our balance sheet better, it will make it worse. With the whole of the EUin turmoil, no one expects to get paid.That is what the crisis is about in the first place.Therefore, we should wait and see how Europe is going to deal with its bondholders. It is clear thatGreece will get at least a 50 per cent haircut on all its debts.Every other member of the eurozone should be handled in the same way; after all, you can’t have functioning monetary union if one region gets special treatment.
How can two bankrupt countries be treated differently? BankruptGreece gets a huge write off,yet bankrupt Ireland gets none. That makes no sense. It means Ireland will actually be penalised for being the good boy,while Greece is rewarded for giving the creditors the two fingers. Treating debtors differently would also contravene the fundamental freedoms of the internal market.Remember, it was the EUCommission that penned the ‘One market,onemoney’document that argued EMUwas necessary to bolster the single market. If you treat capital in different countries differently,you have no level playing field and no single market.
Once Greece is given a haircut, the precedent is set for us to give back to the bondholders their bonds inbust banks and tell themthe game is over.By the way, this is called capitalism.This approach is not radical or unorthodox, but mainstream and entirely normal in everyday business. Furthermore, this raises the question of reverse ‘‘moral hazard’’. In the past few weeks, there have been many voices cautioning against moral hazard for borrowers in the case of debt forgiveness for mortgage holders.But if they believe in moral hazard, then itmust cut bothways.
Consequently, the bank that lends recklessly should not get paid in full because it will only embolden it to lend recklessly again. Now that Europe is in turmoil,we should be good Europeans and invoke the single market to get equal treatment with Greece.Following Bismarck’s logic,we are using Europe to demand something for ourselves that we haven’t the balls to demand in our own name.
Why o why do we seem to be a nation of sheep Why should we play the waiting game. The tent village in the centre of Dublin makes more and more sence, The longer they are there. If the Irish people think that kenny/Gilmore are much use they will be sadly mistaken. If we want real change start with putting the government on the minimum wage and watch how fast things will change,because this government is not working for me?ask yourself is this government working for you and your family. Has kenny got the balls it takes to stand up… Read more »
Sub.
Once again another excellent post, David, but then again in having said that it was a difficult enough read as a lot of your words were joined together,(as there were no spaces in between a lot of them). Your point about the European Union being a partnership is very apt, but the way the various heads of government are acting its far from that. That idiot Sarkozy just wants to have his cake and eat it, but you know as well as everyone else that he can’t have it both ways, but he’s trying very hard to do so. I… Read more »
And why won’t we punish the bondholders of Anglo? They are the pillars of our society. Denis, Tony, Dermot et al. Plus ca change.
In France everything is philosophised first before pragmatism gets a look in. We need to imbue the energy of Voltaire and Robespierre and apply it against the French mindset if we want to win.Its the only language they know to agree with no matter how right or wrong you are . Napoleon and Sarkozy ( Mr Bling Bling on a stool ) are both short people and very dangerous to be crossed .Good choreography with proper communications will pay off at the table. Whatever discount Greece receives so should Ireland and from that balance a deduction should be credited for… Read more »
Kenny is just a weak leader who has no back bone.Most of the Irish people are just spineless when backing Lisbon 2 Treaty and got what they deserved.Im Irish and voted NO to EVERY EU TREATY since I could vote.We are in a new Soviet Union of central control and people have either seen its too late to change or just to dumb to realize they have sacrificed their own and future children’s prosperity to be good europeans.Luck I am going to Live in Switzerland and get out of this gombeen kip of a country.Leaders of 1916 and Hunger Strikers… Read more »
It’s unbelievable, I have never been so imbarrased to say I’m Irish, we are a bunch of COWARDS!
We should be on the streets rioting, and we might if the rain lets-up a little and there is nothing good on the telly.
I believe that the cheap money that was pushed on the smaller countries of the EU was designed to get them into hock so that they could be manipulated into a closer European union. With the world financial crises following the sub prime debacle, things went too far for Germany and France. Whatever happens they will try to avoid paying their fair share of the cost of what they started. Our government was responsible for the position we are in at present by agreeing to cover the banks debts. We need to renege on these promises, as it was the… Read more »
I voted for fine Gael , Labour last time out because the country needed a change , anybody but that Cowen would do a better job . Now I realise that Fine Gael do not have the bottle to stand up for the country in Europe. All they care about is public service unions and their own pensions/salaries. If they can keep the top politicians happy by licking their areses all is well . They get enough money to pay themselves and all the higher paid elites in the country. You can see now how Hitler came to power in… Read more »
I don’t agree with your use of the term ‘the French’. Its too stereotyped. I for one, would not wish that the 99% of the rest of the French, to get what 99% of us got. We should stay focused on the problem. It is the unruly, unaccountable, untaxable, untouchables, all 1% of them.
Its just a small but important point;- The rest of your article exactly correct and is very good, thanks.
How many prime ministers and finance ministers does it take to solve a debt crisis?
Will let you know on Oct 1st 2008, Feb 25th 2009, June 14th 2009, November 1st 2009, March 16th 2010, August 2nd 2010, December 19th 2010, April 4th 2011, July 16th 2011, October 26th 2011………….
From above: ‘Treating debtors differently would also contravene the fundamental freedoms of the internal market.’
Yes: there should be no more ‘Summits’. EU leaders should be put into the equivalent of the Big Brother House: they should be locked into a builder’s container on the wasteland near Clongriffin [without any tea or biscuits], and only allowed out when they have a plan and learn to behave.
Playing by the rules is a dangerous game under financial capitalism. The rules will always change to benefit the bankers. The bankers ARE the rules.
@straboe1 ‘I believe that the cheap money that was pushed on the smaller countries of the EU was designed to get them into hock so that they could be manipulated into a closer European union.’ I agree. I also think the Irish Internal Elite (the Insiders) are in cahoots with this plan. They think it will save their hides. They think that, after subjecting the Outsiders of Ireland to years of crushing austerity, their malinvestments will be made good again in hard-core Neu-Euro. This is a credulous position. Some Insiders of the Euro project may plan to absorb the shattered… Read more »
ps:
‘Vatican calls for global authority on economy, raps “idolatry of the market”’
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/24/idUS264245887020111024
interesting times!……
Wouldn’t ye think Kenny/Gilmore praised by Sarkozzzy would be on PrimeTime/VB and other yawn shows every evening taking a bow and explaining to us all:
A, to what the Irish attribute the success of their wonderful austerity policy that Starkers wants the rest of Europe to emulate.
Aheem, there again how come Sarkozzy praises the Irish for taking on the sovereign the debt of the banks, when he wants Europe to take on the debt of French banks?
Now I’m really confused!
We’ll ignore the junk status Rating Agencies as they don’t count?
But they know what they’re doing, right?
subscribe.
David, Thats it. Nailed. The Greece bondholders will get their just deserts now finally on Wednesday. They will get their writedown, which they should’ve got 3 years ago. And let their be no mistake about it, the writedown is going to happen only because there is no where else for the kleptocratic financial elite gangsters to go. The only option left is the writedown in order for them to rescue their international ponzi scam machinery from falling apart. These bastard ponzi merchants are being found out now, finally. Wednesday will SHOW ’em up for what they are. When they green… Read more »
The problem is we are paying back unsecured bondholders. What kind of message does this send to the secured bondholders? There is no unified strategy in Europe to deal with this between ourselves in a least painful way for the EU. It’s just ‘get all you can while you can’ if you happen to be a bondholder. Our leaders (for what they are worth) are nothing but a bunch of can-kickers with no long term vision and lacking gall. We have a council of ministers in Europe, now we need a council of finance ministers to meet regularly (with advisers)… Read more »
If this is how the Republic of Ireland is governed, why would any sane person in NI want to join the Republic?
Its about the INTL Banks (THE CITY) and global conquest. We in the US provide the DOLLAR and the military. This woman in Dublin is on to the scam.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4klALeFpvc&feature=player_embedded
But kicking the Greeks plays into propaganda:
http://goo.gl/yQS6U
Let’s not blame FF, FG or Labour for their apparent inability or unwillingness to stand up the major players in the EU for the good of the country. We habitually vote the same faces back into the Dail election after election, the last election is a mere blip for FF, they’re not going anywhere. We have known for 3 years now that we(the average citizen) would end up paying for the greed of the banks/regulators/developers/politicians etc but we did nothing about it. It then dawned on us that we’re not paying for Irish banks’ greed, but for the greed of… Read more »
New York Times 22nd October 2011
“A spectators Guide to the Euro crisis”
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/10/22/opinion/20111023_DATAPOINTS.html?ref=opinion
Good article skirting around the absurdities of living in an Ireland which is umbilically attached to a faceless superstate run and controlled by god knows who. A journeyman article which just repeats what we hear all the time and as usual offers little in the way of inspiration, actions or practical solutions. We have more pressing problems at home however and it is not the Europeans who are our main problem. We are the problem We should be hammering away at those uncomfortable questions which Irish people seem incapable of addressing due to their need to be liked, lack of… Read more »
David, Great article, hope to see you in Kilkenny. I agree Ireland has an opportunity to play hard ball, but alas, the government will bottle out as there is no Plan B as we’ve been discreetly told six months ago from Washington to pay our debts or else Google and all other multinationals are out of here. In addition, any scent of a challenge to the ECB would cause a liquidity freeze with our “pillar banks”. Unfortunately, the game is up since a long while, and the governments’ role in the coming weeks will be to manage/muffle the message. It… Read more »
Brilliant debate continues now in Westminster on EC Referendum. Big revolt against whips.
See BBC Parliament.
What have we made of Independence to date. Once the British left we handed over control to the Church to run Irish Life. They set all the rules of behaviour for everything we did. Kenny, Noonan et al are from that generation and conditioning. They could not behave any differently than subservient.The Church only recently lost control then Fianna Fail stepped into a vacuum and decided the country should be set up on the basis of who you know. The media had us alll looking in the wrong direction for brown bags when the payments were really jobs key positions,… Read more »
It is not only that we are being penalized for being the poster boys of the Troika, it is the latter that is so much more important for Kenny and his EPP disciples in FG/Labour government. For these idiots from the troika, Ireland is what they need to showcase as a success, and the compliant managers like Noonan etc are playing into their hands. Reading about the leverage plans that emerged now, game over. thats it, the rest is history and only a matter of time until everything collapses into a void of political and social chaos of the worst… Read more »
@CitizenWhy, Re “Huge capital inflows ino a country always lead to bubbles and busts. Many governments know this — Brazil is an example, being diligent to suppress such inflow — but the Irish government rejoiced in the insanity of money from abroad beyond any justification based on the size of the Irish economy, even with many years of growth. We will never know why, but it could simply be a case of the giddy and arrogant beggar on horseback riding off to hell.” Michael Casey former chief economist of the Central Bank has a new book out. Heard him interviewed… Read more »
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92Vjc_PeYtc
http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/1024/referendum.html
The letter is signed by: David Byrne, Patrick Connolly, Paul Gallagher, Dermot Gleeson, Michael McDowell, Peter Sutherland, John Rogers and Harold Whelehan
what are this interesting (cough) bunch afraid of?
Essential reading:
New Scientist magazine reveals the 147 banks and corporations that rule the world. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228354.500-revealed–the-capitalist-network-that-runs-the-world.html
Tinker Tailor Soldier SPY Yes , I am refering to Alan SHATTER and his Kangaroo Courts .Does anyone realise how serious this propsed change to the constitution is ? Has he lost his Irish Jew Nationality and swapped it for an Israeli Jew Nationality ?.Is he MOSSAD ? I can smell a RAT especially small ones . I say all this because I encountered such a Rat in 1993 in the process of commiting an EU Ponzi Scheme and Fraud and had reported it to Garda Phoenix Park at the time.It was an Israeli Jew SCAM on Ireland and EU… Read more »
GEORG+JOHN->
“It shall be for the House or Houses concerned to determine, with due regard to the principles of fair procedures, the appropriate balance between the rights of persons and the public interest for the purposes of ensuring an effective inquiry into any matter to which subsection 2° applies.”
“DUE REGARD” – MAKES U FEEL SAFER?
“FAIR PROCEDURES” – WHAT ARE THEY?
THIS MAKES THEM GOD.
THE ONLY QUESTION IS WHAT IS PUBLIC INTEREST?
Why do you keep calling this ‘capitalism’. It’s clearly not capitalism … If it was the gamblers would have lost and there’d be a different crisis going on in the world … One caused by capitalism. This isn’t that.
So Frontline has revealed ‘ Paddy the Smuggler ‘ ….Seanie Fitz and Seanie Gal ….spot the difference .
I feel that the common people of Ireland need to be very wary about any proposals to amend the constitution both now and in the future, because once changes have been made it’s very hard or even impossible to change them back. Has any one stopped and really thought about who are the people who are proposing these changes to the constitution? It’s the politicians who are the people who want these changes to be made for their own devices. Surely we should have learned our lesson after the debacle of we having to vote for a second time on… Read more »
Dear David: Another fantastic article by you! Writing so you are doing a great service to Ireland and it’s people. I disagree with you in the following. We are being penalised for being foolish and subservient. So in fact this partly is a self inflicted suffering that has many root causes. A political and economical Elite that want to screw us. And the believe of some people, that use their mouths before their brains. And think that without even being able to make an indigenous bicycle, we can boast about the smart economy, and we can pay ourselves more than… Read more »
Epic Frontline last night. Pravda RTE was breached, Pat, Miriam, Tubs candy floss Pravda PC questioning was over. Hauled into the studio like Greeks hidden in a Trojan Horse entering the city of Troy came the people armed with lethal questions as they threw light hearted spears. Gay Mitchell furious at the people questions lost it. I was worried at one point that he might have a whip hidden and begin to beat me though I was watching the show from the safety of home. The mask of FG fell away. Suddenly we saw the covert media manipulation, the arrogant… Read more »
…final word on a quationer go to the questioner to respond to the answer they got…
So the leveraged EFSF pumps 1 trillion debt into a vampiric system, propping up both banks and governments until the printers cant keep up with this and the money runs out to pay the loans that were repackaged into the CDO that was used to create this 1 trillion bank viagra fund. So when this fails, the CDS’s get called in and no money will be found as the CDS’s are not backed, but not before our deposits have been taken, which is why Europe has tried to stop the CDS markets, because when the EFSF fails, they will have… Read more »
Excellent article. Top Notch. There is a mountain of dirt under the carpet. Sarko is sitting on top of it and smiling. His backers have been proven to be clueless at investment. So they have him as their representative, patching deals. It will all end in a disaster for the elite (or the elan) of France, with the loss of the AAA debt rating. Belgium still does not have a government. And Italy is led by a clown. The problem cannot be fixed by sticking more taxes on DE, NL, AT, FI, UK etc…and giving the money to Snr. Bean,… Read more »
FOLKS> THE BANKING SCAM IS COVER.
WHAT IS MEANS IS .. WITCH HUNT
POLITICOS WOULD THE POWER TO VIOLATE YOUR RIGHTS..INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS
IF THEY SEE IT IN THE “PUBLIC INTEREST”…AND THINK IT IS “FAIR”
THE INQUIRY CAN SUCK IN ALL INFORMATION ABOUT INDIVIDUALS…
MCCARTHY COULD NOT CIRCUMVENT CONSTITUION.
THE TEXT IS NEEDED TO REMOVES CHECKS AND BALANCE…AT THEIR DISCRETION.
AMAZING IN A SCARY WAY.
Will the real public please stand up? – We need Statesmen /women. He was born on 23rd of december 1918 in Germany/Hamburg. He is nearly 93 now, and recently stood a one hour lasting public broadcast that also discussed the events of the past few years. He was one of the greatest post war Statesmen Europe has seen, his name is Helmut Schmidt. I do not agree with all his decisions and political history, but I share more of his views expressed so eloquent and often ironic than I would disagree on. A man of political convictions, ethical standards, a… Read more »
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHiOK4b58-E
Should I be more worried in Alien Vs Predator mode re the runner with the sleazy brown paper bag/envelope, or the fact that a convicted fuel smuggler with links to Sinn Fein, now has a direct line to Martin McGuinness? I might ask Dana but could she be put under investigation for wasting precious police time?
Confusing isn’t it:)
THis is a Presedential Election when we should definitely vote for none of the above
Two EU meetings cancelled tomorrow
26 / 10 / 11 .The 17 nation Eurogroup meeting and 27 finance ministers meeting cancelled.
It would be interesting how international sociologist might judge the process of the Irish Presidential Elections 2011 and what does it interpret the events to mean.
I sense something terrible has been born .
Stand Up the Real Sociologist reading this site and stop your academic note taking for a change and reveal whats happening to us .