What was Ireland's problem?

[Claudius]

Quote from Ghost of Cutten:



It has little to do with the Euro, it would have happened anyway. USA, Australia, Canada, Dubai, Eastern Europe outside the Eurozone - they all had RE bubbles without the Euro.

Yes, there probably would have been a bubble even if Ireland had stayed out of the Euro.
But given the choice, I would take an Australian/Canadian style bubble over a PIGS style bubble any day.

Eastern Europe are de facto members of the Euro-zone.

Interesting that you brought up Dubai. I just had a quick look and it appears that the Emirati Dirham (AED) is pegged to the USD.
So a Greenspan monetary policy designed to inflate asset bubbles in slowville USA, was being applied to a country that is knee deep in oil when the price of oil was going through the roof.

PIIGS with wings.

BTW, I believe that exactly the same thing is happening in Hong Kong and China right now.

Pegging your exchange rate = Outsourcing control over your monetary policy = Guaranteed Economic Pain

 

[tickmagnet]

As I said before , this was caused by the us government, the printing machines are up and running. Free trade is biggest scam , designed by the big nations to fuck small countries , so two main factors us dollar , and free trade.

 

[Claudius]

Quote from tickmagnet:

As I said before , this was caused by the us government, the printing machines are up and running. Free trade is biggest scam , designed by the big nations to fuck small countries , so two main factors us dollar , and free trade.

It's also been said that the downfall of Western Civilization will eventually be traced back to the moment they started serving apple pie with ice-cream.

An interesting idea, but I'd like to see the reasoning behind it before I take it more seriously as a turning point in history.

 

[IanMacQuaide]

Quote from peilthetraveler:

Just so you know....here are some of irelands social programs.

Deserted wifes allowance
Prisoners wifes allowance
Health & safety benefit for pregnant women and/or breast feeding women(lets them stay home from work)

And my favorite...PRE-retirement allowance. Its about 800 euros per month that you get to start collecting at age 55.

Some more are...

one parent family allowance
Job seekers allowance (this is about $250 per week, but if you have a wife and 2 kids you get about $500 per week)

There are a ton of others and most pay the same (about 200 euros per week) I dont know how credible this next one is, but my cousin who lives in Northern Ireland says that if you are diagnosed as an alcoholic, the government gives you £30 per week to buy alcohol. But thats northern ireland and they are controled by the british, so it doesnt count towards irelands woes.

Ireland = California

 

[zdreg]

Quote from fundjunkie:

No he is not. To describe someone as a socialist you have to first understand what socialism is. By applying that crude caricature of socialism that has long existed in the US you show that you clearly do not.

Note that, before you rush to brand me as one, I am not a socialist. But I have taken the time to understand what it is, its merits (elementary prerequisites of a moral and civiziled society, you might say), and why i disagree with it. I suggest you do the same.



Are you suggesting that only socialists would agree with a notion that is clearly common sense? Surely not.

Please outline for us those Govt services that you think would be better handled by the private sector? I'm interested in where you draw the line of demarcation.


Thx


D

your response is similar to those people who say that communism in russia does not prove it is bad for society and for human dignity and freedom because it was not really pure communism. it is a close enough approximation to prove that communism denies human dignity etc.

"Are you suggesting that only socialists would agree with a notion that is clearly common sense? Surely not."

I am saying that the previous poster's remark that certain sectors should be handled by the government are clearly common sense are not only not clearly common sense but clearly show a deficit in thinking.

"Please outline for us those Govt services that you think would be better handled by the private sector? I'm interested in where you draw the line of demarcation."

everything except possibly defense are likely to be handled better by the private sector.

 

[tickmagnet]

Why free trade is bad? It is a gimmick created by the rich to get more for themselves and less for everybody else. Why dollar dominance is bad? It is manipulated by the us government , they can print it as long as it works. Two biggest problems.

 

[Claudius]

Quote from tickmagnet:

Why free trade is bad? It is a gimmick created by the rich to get more for themselves and less for everybody else. Why dollar dominance is bad? It is manipulated by the us government , they can print it as long as it works. Two biggest problems.

This is a North Korean child.

Unluckily for him, the North Korean leadership also came to believe that free trade was a 'gimmick'.

 

[trefoil]

Quote from zdreg:

your response is similar to those people who say that communism in russia does not prove it is bad for society and for human dignity and freedom because it was not really pure communism. it is a close enough approximation to prove that communism denies human dignity etc.

"Are you suggesting that only socialists would agree with a notion that is clearly common sense? Surely not."

I am saying that the previous poster's remark that certain sectors should be handled by the government are clearly common sense are not only not clearly common sense but clearly show a deficit in thinking.

"Please outline for us those Govt services that you think would be better handled by the private sector? I'm interested in where you draw the line of demarcation."

everything except possibly defense are likely to be handled better by the private sector.

If that "common sense" remark was directed at my post, what I was saying was "common sense" was, if you read the post again and note the placement, was that Ireland needed to exit the euro, once things got stabilized. I was saying that I don't know, and I still don't, whether in your world that would qualify as more or less government intervention. Nor do I care, since this whole argument is a massive hijack that has precisely nothing to do with what caused Ireland's economic woes, which were caused by a lethal combination of uncontrolled growth of its banks because of a laissez-faire attitude towards that, with interest rates that were way too low because the euro's interest rates, and its exchange rate, are dictated by what happens to Germany, which has zero to do with what's happening to Ireland's economy.
Those are the facts in the real world. In your ideological fantasy fairyland, it's the government, always, and always will be, regardless of the actual facts of the actual situation being discussed.
Not that that makes you any different than 99 and 44/100ths percent of the posters here on Planet ET. But someone needs to simply point out what the real world events were, if only for the occasional lurker who stumbles in and wonders where the h*ll he landed.