Euro

The only thing that will stop Ireland – and a number of other EU countries – from defaulting on their debts is if the European Central Bank bites the bullet and starts printing money to buy up government debt in Europe in limitless quantities. This is what we have come to. Anything less and the…

Now things are getting really bizarre. A few weeks back, this column highlighted how Ireland had changed from a democracy to a “bankocracy”. A bankocracy is a state where government policy puts the interests of its banks over the interests of its citizens. Our Government is the conduit for the transfer of wealth from our…

How do these financial crises normally end? Many people are asking when this Greek episode will end and how it will affect us.

There’s good and bad news on this score. The good news is that, if the state does the right thing, a financial crisis can usually be managed.

What would God do in this economic crisis? It is a serious question, and one we will come back to later, because it has significant resonance in relation to what is going on in Europe this weekend. Before we come back to God, let’s examine the crisis and its implications for us. Put simply, the…

Have you heard of Neelie Kroes? Last November, this column said that the European Commission would save us from the crazy excesses of our politicians – and it delivered last Friday.

Business in Ireland is on its knees. Ask anyone involved in the retail trade, the advertising world or, more tellingly, anyone looking for a job, and they will tell you the same thing.

In a nutshell, the Greek bailout means that, in good times, countries like Greece, Ireland and Spain borrow German money to buy German-made BMWs, which is obviously excellent news for Germany. However, in times of crisis, we send Germany the bill, which is the payback (a) for us absorbing all the savings the Germans don’t want to spend and (b) for buying their cars and washing machines with their money recycled by our banks.

When you think about Lisdoonvarna, what comes to mind? If you are of a certain generation, it’s probably the first music festival you went to. The weekend was immortalised by Christy Moore’s iconic song, Lisdoonvarna, which included the fabulously evocative line: ‘‘Anyone for the last Choc Ice?” For others, Lisdoonvarna is famous for match making.

In his first public speech since being made governor of the Central Bank, Patrick Honahan – one of the finest economists we have ever produced – sounded almost apologetic about our overvalued currency. He made the point that if we still had the Irish punt, our exchange rate with sterling would be 1.18 and getting stronger by the day.

There is a strange similarity between the predicament of our banks and that of our Church. When you think about it, both the banks and the Catholic Church dealt in that rarest of commodities, trust. When we trusted them, they could sell us practically any old stuff. Make it up on the hoof, in some cases.