Anaxagoras
Posts: 3086
Joined: 5/9/2009
From: Eire
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Not a good article due factual errors, e.g. I was surprised to learn Iceland is a member of the EU - its only part of the free trade area, and it misses the vital point that there would be infinitely more pressure on a larger economy in the EU, probably bringing down the entire EU edifice if it defaulted but it at least raises one worthwhile point about the bullying nature of the international community. What follows is what could have been more fruitfully written about.
In Ireland a few weeks before the IMF/EU came in late last year, the G8 met and basically decided Ireland would take an IMF bailout. Notwithstanding others deciding such a thing, which is a shocking loss of sovereignty, Ireland didn't even have any presence at the table! Essentially Ireland was perceived as threatening the Euro because the markets were responding unfavourably to it, especially after Merkle said certain bonds in the EU wouldn't be paid back a few weeks earlier. The Irish government was extremely weak (rudderless was a common media description at the time), with a useless taoiseach (prime minister), and a finance minister (Brian O'Lenihan) who was a good politician but had cancer (he died a few months later) and was a lawyer rather than an economist anyway. There were whispers coming out of Europe that Ireland was due a bailout but no one told the government, which kept insisting it was financed for quite a few months into the future and economic prospects were slowly improving after an austerity budget. Basically the EU and IMF marched in and forced the bailout. Cue the world's media showing dishonest images of homeless Irish people, paddies on horses a la the 19th Century etc. The IMF, contrary to what many people think, were not the bastards in all this. They actually offered these loans at a far lower percentage rate than the EU, who were supposed to be our partners, and stressed somewhat less punitive actions. Essentially the ECB wanted to protect the money they had put into the banks here, and deliver a big "fuck you" in the process.
I'm not ideologically against Ireland paying to an extent for the mistakes of its banks. Why? Because this is a capitalist society and we bear a burden from it in good times and bad. If we want the country to survive economically we have to take it in the ass like the Greeks (pun intended) etc. and then ensure such a thing never happens again. What appals me is the way our partners "the EU", which is supposedly a community of equal nations, shafted the country after absurdly mismanaging their dealing with the crisis, and then forcing the government's hand with contempt, and burdening the nation with a crippling interest rate (over 6%) that was almost as high as Ireland’s interest rate if it was going to the markets, when the money wasn't even needed at the time! This rate for an immense loan saddled on a relatively small population, would have crippled the economy, preventing it from growing again. It emerged the EU was making significant profits from the rate also!
Then when Ireland sought to reduce the extremely high interest rate that stupid cunt Sarkozy, amongst others, demanded Ireland bring up its corporation tax rate. The country always had a low rate long before it joined the EEC in 1973. The idea was forwarded to appeal to his voters in France, even though bringing it up would also completely prevent the country from recovering since attracting foreign investment was key to bring it out of recession and restoring the faith the markets had lost. With any chance of growth gone, it would have put many in a virtual penury with crippling austerity used as the sole tool to bring the country’s finances into kelter. Now surprise surprise the EU have completely failed to reassure the markets, and are demanding absolute fiscal unity compromising sovereignty, which again is an attempt to force Ireland to raise the rate. Now it seems we need a new treaty to pull all this off but there is no chance such a treaty would pass a referendum so it looks as if some countries will have to leave the EU, and any sense of EU intra-national democracy has been totally destroyed by Merkle/Sarkozy, with it becoming a centralised France n’ Germany superstate.
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"That woman, as nature has created her, and man at present is educating her, is man's enemy. She can only be his slave or his despot, but never his companion." (Venus in Furs)
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Iceland and mainstream media cover up - 
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