IMF are back in town. Please read and share it widely. There was a big event in Dublin Castle today, entry by invitation only but Im sure ye were all there. It was titled Ireland—Lessons from Its Recovery from the Bank-Sovereign Loop , a lot of heavy hitters having their say including senior reps from the ECB, the European Commission and the IMF, our three good friends from the Troika. For what its worth, heres my take on the recovery from the Bank-Sovereign Loop and the lessons to be learned from it. 1) When Irelands banks went the way of so many other banks across Europe and the United States, no-one - either in Ireland or in any of the European institutions - had any idea what to do. How do we know? The IMFs Christine Lagarde (then the French equivalent of the Finance Minister) said so at the meeting, not once but twice: It was a learning curve, we went from having bail-out of banks to bail-in, a painful and expensive experience for Ireland, then later I dont question all of us were inventing/guessing/transgressing… 2) In 2010, during which the ECB effectively bailed out two insolvent Irish banks (Anglo and Irish Nationwide) to the tune of €31bn (the infamous Promissory Notes), and at the end of which we had the Troika in town dictating policy out in the open, there were STILL no Resolution Mechanisms in place to deal with troubled banks, leaving Ireland to carry the can for the rest of the eurozone. 3) EVERYONE now knows that we were shafted, that the Irish took one for the team. 4) We also now know for certain that the most socially damaging policies of this government were decided on by themselves (again courtesy of Christine Lagarde - Ultimately policies are decided by those who implement them, we can only advise). 5) We have always known the legality of what the ECB/EC/EU was doing was questionable at best, but Colm McCarthy reckons its time we took this to the European Court of Justice - the legality of all they did should be tested. 6) We know now that its not just the Irish media who have been fooled by the Michael Noonan Promissory Note deal of February 2013, when he converted €31bn of questionable debt to sovereign debt; one prominent speaker at the conference, Agnès Bénassy-Quéré (University of Paris, Council of Economic Advisers), wondered aloud if anyone would ultimately have to pay for those Notes. I have news for you Agnès - the Irish people are paying for that, through the nose and for many generations to come, upwards of €80bn eventually when interest is also taken in to account. 7) Finally, we know that were not going to get a cent of that Promissory Note money back (well get some from the remaining banks, if and when theyre sold off) unless we demand it, unless we shout it from the rooftops. The platitudes are still coming hot and heavy from the Troika, the pats on the head for Michael Noonan and Enda Kenna, but were getting nothing unless we ourselves - Im talking about the people here - get organised and demand it. One thing I wonder about though, not just after watching that little show but its been coming to me for many months now: The euro was engineered from the outset with mainly German input. They dont often get things so wrong but look back - which country has gained most from this crisis, which country above all is thriving, while we all suffer austerity? And now look at whats been gradually happening over those last few year - all that was rejected in the original design is now stealthily but steadily being accepted, so that were well down the road to Full Monetary Union, Full Fiscal Union, Full Banking Union. Think about that.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 19:05:59 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015