Author: Mark Coughlan

I’m sick of posting links, but anyway, too busy with other things, more from Der Speigel.

The Last Opportunity for a Strong Currency – Henrik Muller

Level-headed analysis, this time, rather than explanatory journalism. On the single European currency;

The euro is a paradox: a political project that has long lacked political support. Is it really a surprise to anyone that the feeling of togetherness and solidarity amongst Europeans has remained weak? Without a binding emotional basis, it is hardly conceivable that the euro will hold together in the long run.

Good piece, I like how it goes through the history of the how the currency came to exist. My own preference would be for a considered demolition (I refuse to say “orderly wind down”) over ceding more budgetary power to Brussels.

Thing is; the same opinion is likely held by most Europeans and that’s a major part of why we’re in this mess now (I also refuse to say “why we are where we are”).

TIME magazine has a short piece on NAMA in the latest edition. The anti-NAMA quotes are from McWilliams (who has been stunning over the last few months – Morgan Kelly-esque – but might be overdoing on the media appearances as of late! The dude is everywhere…)

It will potentially become the country’s largest landowner, with a portfolio including many of Ireland’s hotels and a number of notable landmark buildings. The toxic bank option is one that several nations considered at the start of global financial crisis — and then dismissed as a bad idea. In Ireland, the risk that the experimental scheme could wreak even more havoc on the country’s frail economy has many worried. “NAMA will bankrupt Ireland,” says economist and commentator David McWilliams. “It is forcing us to borrow from tomorrow to pay for yesterday and, in the process, destroy the opportunities of today.”

Government view from department of finance press officer, Eoin Dorgan…

“The difference between Ireland and elsewhere is that what we had here was essentially an old-fashioned property bubble,” says Eoin Dorgan, communications officer at Ireland’s Department of Finance. “So, while debts in the U.K. and U.S. were based on complicated financial instruments that were very difficult to value, we could just base our valuation on the collateral, which was the land.” So, the government decided that if Ireland was to avoid the chaos that Greece and other teetering euro-zone economies face now, it needed to do something radical. “It made sense for us to do something direct and up-front by creating a ‘bad bank’ to bring certainty to the market,” says Dorgan.

Ah yes, certainty.

Early in the week is always crazy busy for me, hence posts of substance tend not to appear under this byline ever between Sunday and Wednesday.

I do get a lot of reading done, and talk to many smart people in that time period however – compared to the rest of the week when I sit at a desk beside some strange dude who keeps rocking in his chair and repeating “t-t-transparency, c-c-c-corruption, t-t-transparency, c-c-corruption…” ad nauseum – usually resulting in short quick posts centred on links to interesting articles elsewhere.

In that vein… Simon Johnson and Peter Boone on the Eurozone. They’re worried that people have stopped talking about Ireland.

Note…

It could be that in two years time Europe’s deficits are much lower, the ECB has hardly bought any bonds, and they have successfully managed a Greek debt restructuring while Spain is out of trouble, and Portugal and Ireland are scraping by in limbo but now isolated problems.

Oh dear.

Interesting post from Seamus Coffey on the Irish CAP figures (published top 100 here recently).

Natural curiosity brought me to examine the figures from my home parish.

Here I saw that there were 150 recipients in the parish who received an average payout of €12,142, slightly below the national average.  The total monies received by residents of the parish under the scheme was €1,821,339.  It’s like the parish wins a lotto jackpot every year – guaranteed!

…

According to the 2006 Census data there were 26 males and 5 females with recorded occupations of ‘Farming, Fishing and Forestry Managers’ in the Cappamore DED.  There were also three males and one female recorded as ‘Other Agricultural Workers’.  This would suggest there is a maximum of 35 people employed as farmers in the Cappamore DED.  The parish of Cappamore had 150 recipients (131 males and 19 females) under the CAP scheme.

A blog worth reading, that’un.

There’s some very nice explanatory journalism in Der Spiegel today. Warning; long, long, long article is very long, but enjoyable and definitely worth reading.

Der Spiegel – The Mother of All Bubbles

Written for the layman with a global outlook, it explains how we… ehem… how we are where we are… and where we’re going. Pretty even handed – quotes from conservatives (e.g Niall Ferguson) and liberals (e.g Krugman) – in fairly equal measure.

Covers pretty much the whole globe, Ireland gets a mention or two. If I was to recommend reading one article today, this would be it.

I’m not in agreement with the suggestions in the The Irish Times editorial today for improving – in terms of reducing corruption and improving transparency – how our political system is funded. The leader writer is rowing in behind the Director of Public Prosecutions, James Hamilton’s recent comments. I quote today’s piece…

Some senior politicians still defend private sector political funding, even though it contains within it the seeds of corruption. They argue it is an important element in a participatory democracy. Invariably, they insist no favours are provided in return for such unprompted largesse. That self-serving bluster no longer carries any conviction, particularly in relation to planning matters, where the money trail has been easily identified. It is time to make a clean cut with the past.

When Director of Public Prosecutions James Hamilton warns that political corruption will continue for so long as there is private financing of political parties, what remains to be said? Do our politicians favour a continuation of dubious practices? After all, the State now provides alternative and generous funding for the political process. There was never a better time for comprehensive reform.

I’m inherently wary of suggestions that the State get involved in funding politics. As a firm believer in the value of diversity of viewpoints it irks me to think someone in the pay of the State would be deciding who gets what funding when. No matter how independent the office deciding the allocation, it won’t be independent enough. The possibility of tiered political system emerging also worries me. Continue reading “Proposals for funding reform”