Corporate and Banking bail outs are hardly a new thing to the Irish people. Before the Celtic tiger was born Irish citizens subsidized industry, farming and civil service jobs for the boys. An example of some of the subsidies are in the form of equipment, plant, low taxes and even cheap electricity for corporations. All in an effort to make Ireland competitive. It worked. The only way for the average guy in Ireland to get a piece of the pie was to start a business or buy a home or several homes. In other words speculate.
During the Celtic Tiger the Government was for the first time in decades running a positive balance and instead of giving back the people what it owed them they simply expanded government and social benefits. They expanded social benefits so much so that Ireland became the go to destination for indigents all over the world. Come to Ireland and get a free apartment, cell phone, money for kids that are living in another country. The list was endless. People who were genuine refugees were always welcome in Ireland and no one ever had a problem with it. But the numbers were in the hundreds per year. Suddenly the doors were thrown open and people were just flooding the system by the thousands. The government was renting hotels all over the country to house people. Even before the banks blew up there was trouble brewing in the govt balance sheet.
The banks looking to get a piece of the pie did what they do best either fudge their customers accounts to steal from them with bogus little surcharges or speculate in the markets they knew best and that was housing. They did both.
Inevitably it blew up. The government decided it was in the best interests of the country to bail out the banks because if they didn't then no one would lend the govt money. The notion was everyone tighten their belts and this will blow over soon. Except the banking problem just kept getting bigger and bigger. It is now at the point where the money cannot be repaid.
There is nothing left except to keep finding new and inventive ways to tax the population.
The latest slap in the face for the fiscally conservative saver in Ireland is they are now going to be taxed on their pensions. This is just after pension benefits were cut.
Of course there are exceptions to every rule. In this case the government workers are not going to have to put up with it.
Nice knowing you Ireland.
Edit: One last thing. (AD 2008) Approximately 70% of all Irish mortgages are classified as variable. Think about that for a second. Even the threat of Debtors prison won't be enough to stop the loans going belly up. When they blow up who will be holding the bag? The Banks? No as the govt promised to keep them afloat. The taxpayer? No because if the draconian 1850's legislation is not removed from the books then the people will have no choice but to leave. Even if it's removed from the books people are still broke. Eventually this domino will fall.
Edit: Well that didn't take long. http://www.zerohedge.com/article/treasury-confirms-debt-ceiling-be-breached-today-will-tap-pension-funds
2 comments:
Wow I thought this post ended in the Google bit bucket.
I should have put refugees in quotation marks. The vast majority are not refugees at all but people who simply throw away their documentation as soon as they arrive in Ireland and claim refugee status. It sidesteps a few rules and they are given the benefit of the doubt until they wind their way through the legal system.
It works like this. Open borders throughout Europe. The French, British etc move them along and won't accept them as refugees just on their say so. Ireland has. Their ultimate destination is Ireland anyway as the benefits are terrific. In order to work the system they need to dispose of their paperwork. This is for non EU residents. Regular immigration is mostly from Romania and Poland. When things started to fall apart the Poles were abandoning their leased cars in Dublin Airport much like Europeans and Dubai airport when they blew up financially.
The Romanians have stayed as they had nothing to go back to. Romania should just be absorbed by their neighbors. It's too messed up for too long to fix. To describe it as a filthy rotten hell hole would be too kind to Romania. The fact that the people flee the country shows they are still somewhat sane. The fact that they know nothing about working for a living is not their fault. But teach a man to fish etc etc. rather than just give him the fish.
I have nothing against anyone moving anywhere as long as they are willing to integrate and participate. Arriving anywhere with the intention of suckling on the state is immoral. For the state to allow it for political correctness is obscene.
As regards genuine refugees it's usually a shared world responsibility. Everyone takes whatever amount they can reasonably absorb if they want to. Back in the 70's onwards Ireland would take a few hundred a year and spread them out across the country. Once the Celtic Tiger kicked in then it was a flood of "refugees" and immigrants. Some integrated and others live in mini ghettos. Nothing as bad as the UK in the 80's and 90's or today in Holland, Sweden, Germany, France etc etc.
Fascism and other extreme isms are alive and well in Europe.
It's only a matter of time before extremists will be viewed as the only ones representing the peoples views because they actually are.
Whether that is Front National (Nazi) in France or Sinn Fein (Political face of the IRA) in Ireland.
I might do a post on all the Euro members this weekend or at least do it in stages with potential flash points.
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