I fully agree with you on point 1. – make the bankers, ‘developers’ and politicians pay for the shortfall before their public executions is what I say.

However, as for point 2. – I got an appropriate and timely slap when I was a kid and stepped out of line – never did me any harm. As long as it’s not sadistic. Responsible parents do know where to draw the line and don’t need the state to tell them where. ‘Forget’ the state and/or government anyway – who in their right mind would take any orders or advice from that shower of liars and hypocrites?

Adam.

Deco, glad you’re amused. That’s largely the intention, although there’s always some heavyweight points being attempted in amidst the
diatribe/rants.

I see that Angela Merkel has, to put it mildly, lost the plot today by lashing out at the impertinence of the World’s Central Banks for daring to use ‘unconventional’ measures against her wishes. Just who do they think they are? Independent sovereign nations or something?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/merkel-warns-key-bank-of-england-policy-could-fuel-slump-1695503.html

I recall her fulminations over ‘stimulus’ packages right before she and Peer did a volte face and authorised the mother of all stimulus packages.

Now it’s ‘quantitative easing’ which is driving her nuts, and the Sovereign independence of the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve no less! And people wonder why so many Brits are virulently Euro-Sceptic. Why can’t everyone just accept the German Way is the Correct Way?

I guess once she figures out the real implications of NAMA, when the ECB bank/bond window has been explained to her in kindergarden ‘corner-shop terms’ she’ll go off on another one.

I know she has an election to win, but her attack on the Fed/BOI is really a very worrying development. Presumably, she’ll have no problem with over-riding the will of all the other Eurozone nation states and
herding them up the cul-de-sac of the one true faith of Germanic balanced budget fanaticism?

I had expected and hoped for Germany to show leadership when this crisis emerged. Instead of doing so, it’s inaction and intransigence
triggered panicky and bizarre responses from its’ Eurozone affiliates, such as the systemic Irish Banking Guarantee.

I sincerely hope that Frau Merkel isn’t going to rant and rave to such an extent that the ECB can’t carry on with whatever financial sorcery it’s doing to get cash to Ireland.

Germany has much to offer, but it has some serious cultural, economic and demographic challenges to address. I think they would do well to focus on their own backyard rather than lecturing the US/UK. Again. So much for the G20 Alliance!

As Germany registers that a ‘secular shift’ towards ‘car as consumerist totem’ is taking place all across the developed world, it will need to re-think it’s game-plan:

‘Back to the Eighties as car giants run out of road’

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article6418174.ece

There is a dynamic that no one has mentioned (or maybe I did not understand the financial tech speak) that may explain the rationale behind all the secrecy and maybe put it on a slightly more objective (higher moral?) plane. Basically, if people are in danger of default and you are a major creditor, the last thing you want is to have the whole thing in the open as it would crystallise (lovely word!) your losses for sure. The “scam” that everyone talks about is a delay tactic that may work to save more than the defaulter’s a$$ – in this case the taxpayer as well!. If someone found that a company supplying services to them was about to go bust, it would be seen as an opportunity to not pay bills (very good for cash flow in these times). Far better to effect a takeover asap and be business as usual to ensure such predatory manovres are averted. It’s a “laudable idea” if sufficient time has been bought. Unfortunately, we have used up the sovereign guarantee. The ECB is running low as well and the whole world is up the creek which means the bonds (last option) is starting to run dry as they are looking a tad over bought. I wonder if we could interest ET in a few planetary bonds?

Where do you draw the line?….Truth always lies somewhere in the middle. Judgement is tricky

Latest poll reports a surge towards independents. This puts massive pressure on the political parties to stop all their nonsense and start generating real policy frameworks. Because political parties do promises, and issue dodging. They never do policy frameworks. And an increasing share of the electorate is behaving as if the political parties have daft policy frameworks. Which is probably a fair assessment. You don’t go from pure daft to having a competent policy framework in twelve months. It takes years to get right.

Well, as Gary Lineker might say….it all goes back to the German team…Frau Merkel and DE Manschaft…there are strengths which which should try to emulate. Public mindedness, directness, transparency, intolerance of “the hand in the kitty” which widespread in Ireland, education, technical education, equality, proper function public infrastructure, public sector workers who love coming in early and doing a good job. Every citizen enjoying the responsibility of their job….from Angela herself right down to the janitor cleaning the toilet in a remote railway station….By the way there are some things we get right in this country. But we need to fix the things that we have got wrong.

Of course Germany works, a higher proportion of the population takes work seriously. Even with the unemployment. And they all take saving seriously. Same applies to Massechussetts or Osaka. But we have embedded into our culture that a man who works hard is some kind of eijjet who is cheating himself in some way. Maybe it is because the system has been rigged for so long. Well, in that case, we need to fix the system.

Time to demand reform from all the political parties who seem to be fumbling about. The electorate, aware of what is needed to fix Ireland, and taking control of the political system so as to get a higher level of service from the state. Your average Guenther would surely approve !!! In which case we might be getting something right, that we did not get right previously.