Germany is too strong – a Yes vote just solidifies this
March 8, 2012
In the past week there have been a variety of reactions to the fiscal compact referendum. On the Yes side, we are getting the usual establishment cocktail of indignation, anger, haughtiness and scare mongering. It’s kind of pathetic the way the Yes side oscillates between apocalypse and indifference like a tired parent dealing with an…
If the EU wants our agreement, the ECB must help our banks
February 29, 2012
THE European Central Bank (ECB) will ultimately have to take over the mortgage book of the big banks. Or at least that is what will have to happen for this country and our economy to begin the process of a normal recovery. It mightn’t be a bad idea to make ratification of the new fiscal…
Illusion of Greek bailout is Europe’s dirty little secret
February 22, 2012
Sigmund Freud once noted that: “Illusions commend themselves to us because they save us pain and allow us to enjoy pleasure instead. We must therefore accept it without complaint when they sometimes collide with a bit of reality against which they are dashed to pieces.” Europe and the EU are soon to go through one…
Loan guarantees can help firms escape ‘liquidity trap’
February 15, 2012
The Government’s move to extend loan guarantees to small firms is a good move and has the potential to unlock a credit bottle-neck, which could help many small firms that are stranded in no-man’s land, living off cash flow and missing opportunities. Anyone who runs a small business knows that you need capital to grow….
Greece gets an ultimatum from EU but there is life after the euro
February 8, 2012
Are the Germans about to give up on the Greeks? Are they about to allow the Greeks to leave the euro? It certainly feels like that. The EU has just issued an ultimatum to Greece. All the talk of a friendly deal is gone. Greek politicians say they need more time to examine the austerity…
EU has hit self-destruct button as world moves on
February 1, 2012
You can do worse than sit on a Tuesday afternoon in a little cafe about 20 yards from the Coliseum and watch five Chinese tourists getting their photos taken with three chain-smoking Italians dressed up as Roman gladiators. There is something poignant about looking at the Italians in the epicentre of the greatest empire Europe…
Private debt so enormous that default is only option
January 25, 2012
When all the people you read every week for information are talking about the same report, you know that you should read it. From Paul Krugman on the left to John Mauldin on the right, some of my favourite reads of the week are citing a McKinsey Consulting report on global debt. Reading through it,…
Expect house prices to hit the bottom next year
January 18, 2012
In July 2008, just as the falls in property prices were beginning to be really felt, this column threw up a chart of what had happened to the property market in Japan. It suggested that we would follow the Japanese path. Up to then, many people felt that the market would stabilise or lose maybe…
Tremors from Australia’s crash will reach our shores
January 11, 2012
This week, the column is going to focus on the one country that has been receiving thousands of young Irish people for the past three or four years, giving them a chance when there were none at home. The question I pose this week is: what will happen to Irish emigration to Australia when the…
Marie Antoinette’s notion wasn’t all that half-baked
January 4, 2012
Happy New Year and I sincerely hope it is a good one — for all of us. Around this time it is customary for economists to write about what the new year might hold, as if a collective new year’s resolution can have an impact on the economic or business cycle. The economy doesn’t work…
April 3, 2012
May 21, 2012
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February 10, 2012
January 4, 2012
