Moody's warns it may downgrade Spain's debt
Citi: Ireland, Greece And Portugal Are Insolvent, Spain Will Be Soon, Italy And Belgium Are Threatened
Worries About Italy and Belgium in Euro Zone
Germany Opposes Bailout Boost in Face-Off With ECB
Irish parliament to vote on EU/IMF bailout (Hey! This happens today! More fireworks..)
Showing posts with label ireland eu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ireland eu. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Well, That Was Quick, Ireland Edition
Irish PM is forced to agree to dissolve government. Holy Crap! Excerpts in italics:
Amid calls for his immediate resignation from at least two MPs in his own Fianna Fail party and the withdrawal of support from coalition partners the Green Party, Prime Minister Brian Cowen was forced on Monday to announce the pending dissolution of his government.
..
The turmoil and political uncertainty following a bailout that was meant to bring stability has done little to calm markets; despite hopes the package would ease Ireland’s debt crisis, borrowing costs barely budged and the euro declined in the markets Monday. This has heightened concerns among European leaders that the rescue has failed and that further bailouts may be needed to prevent a run on Portuguese and Spanish banks and bond markets.
Hours after the European Union and the Washington-based International Monetary Fund negotiated an €85-billion bailout-loan package on Sunday, the Green Party, which holds the balance of seats that allows Mr. Cowen’s Fianna Fail to govern, delivered a poison-pill announcement: it will pass the brutal austerity measures required as part of the bailout, but at the cost of killing the government.
Green Leader John Gormley, expressing the views of increasingly furious Irish citizens, said he would allow the government to pass a four-year program to slash a further €15-billion from government spending through tax hikes and service cuts in the Dec. 7 budget bill. But he demanded a national election in January in return, a move that will almost certainly end the career of Mr. Cowen and possibly eviscerate his party.
And:
The allies of the Prime Minister, or Taoiseach, wasted little time in delivering the long knives on Monday, distancing themselves from a leader who has infuriated voters by insisting for weeks that Ireland’s sovereignty would be kept intact – and by keeping Ireland’s low 12.5-per-cent corporate tax in place while raising taxes and slashing welfare.
Let the protests begin!
And, because it's Ireland, the Real IRA's gonna kick it up a few notches..
The speed of this whole process has been so much faster than any "mainstream" analyst dreamed it could be.. Last week, a bailout was proposed and implemented, and yesterday, it failed. And Ireland begins a descent into.. No one knows. And the pace of these events is accelerating..
Portugal's next(Oops!). Then Spain. And Italy? And then?
Pay close attention: History is being made right before our eyes.
Amid calls for his immediate resignation from at least two MPs in his own Fianna Fail party and the withdrawal of support from coalition partners the Green Party, Prime Minister Brian Cowen was forced on Monday to announce the pending dissolution of his government.
..
The turmoil and political uncertainty following a bailout that was meant to bring stability has done little to calm markets; despite hopes the package would ease Ireland’s debt crisis, borrowing costs barely budged and the euro declined in the markets Monday. This has heightened concerns among European leaders that the rescue has failed and that further bailouts may be needed to prevent a run on Portuguese and Spanish banks and bond markets.
Hours after the European Union and the Washington-based International Monetary Fund negotiated an €85-billion bailout-loan package on Sunday, the Green Party, which holds the balance of seats that allows Mr. Cowen’s Fianna Fail to govern, delivered a poison-pill announcement: it will pass the brutal austerity measures required as part of the bailout, but at the cost of killing the government.
Green Leader John Gormley, expressing the views of increasingly furious Irish citizens, said he would allow the government to pass a four-year program to slash a further €15-billion from government spending through tax hikes and service cuts in the Dec. 7 budget bill. But he demanded a national election in January in return, a move that will almost certainly end the career of Mr. Cowen and possibly eviscerate his party.
And:
The allies of the Prime Minister, or Taoiseach, wasted little time in delivering the long knives on Monday, distancing themselves from a leader who has infuriated voters by insisting for weeks that Ireland’s sovereignty would be kept intact – and by keeping Ireland’s low 12.5-per-cent corporate tax in place while raising taxes and slashing welfare.
Let the protests begin!
And, because it's Ireland, the Real IRA's gonna kick it up a few notches..
The speed of this whole process has been so much faster than any "mainstream" analyst dreamed it could be.. Last week, a bailout was proposed and implemented, and yesterday, it failed. And Ireland begins a descent into.. No one knows. And the pace of these events is accelerating..
Portugal's next(Oops!). Then Spain. And Italy? And then?
Pay close attention: History is being made right before our eyes.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Opposition Claims Government Understated Debt And Deficit Figures By About 25%
This time; It's Portugal. And Payback. And Twice The VanDamage..(Thanks, Janeane Garafalo)
Portugal, it seems, has a different set of problems than Ireland. Here's how: (from the Payback link..)
Ireland’s government has money, but its banks are drowning in debt, and the government has vowed to guarantee debts, making the state itself vulnerable. Portugal’s problem is different. Its banks are not especially troubled, but the state itself has high debts and low growth, and the mound of both public and private debt is considerable. The total debt is larger than the annual gross domestic product, some $275 billion of debt in an economy of $232 billion a year, one of the highest ratios in the developed world.
And:
So the interest rates Portugal would have to pay on the markets, should it have to borrow money now, would be much too high, forcing it to seek money from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. The government here, as in Dublin, hopes the markets will calm down. But other European Union governments are concerned that unless the markets are appeased now, by protecting Ireland and Portugal, the contagion will spread to huge Spain, the fourth largest economy among the countries that use the euro.
The more I learn about this crisis, the more I tend to believe the worst possible outcomes will actually occur. There aren't any general answers applicable to more than one country, as economic circumstances will be country wide, but not regional. Solutions that appeal to both France and Germany would financially cripple or kill other EU countries. The solutions will be complex and incredibly painful for the weakest countries, and protests and riots are almost sure to follow. And still, the system will most likely collapse.
To drive the point home.. So, if the EU fractures, what sort of effect will it have here in America? Our financial structures And our government are both perilously close to collapse, and locked in tight with all of Europe. How could we possibly absorb the implosion of so many economically interwoven allies? How?
Portugal, it seems, has a different set of problems than Ireland. Here's how: (from the Payback link..)
Ireland’s government has money, but its banks are drowning in debt, and the government has vowed to guarantee debts, making the state itself vulnerable. Portugal’s problem is different. Its banks are not especially troubled, but the state itself has high debts and low growth, and the mound of both public and private debt is considerable. The total debt is larger than the annual gross domestic product, some $275 billion of debt in an economy of $232 billion a year, one of the highest ratios in the developed world.
And:
So the interest rates Portugal would have to pay on the markets, should it have to borrow money now, would be much too high, forcing it to seek money from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. The government here, as in Dublin, hopes the markets will calm down. But other European Union governments are concerned that unless the markets are appeased now, by protecting Ireland and Portugal, the contagion will spread to huge Spain, the fourth largest economy among the countries that use the euro.
The more I learn about this crisis, the more I tend to believe the worst possible outcomes will actually occur. There aren't any general answers applicable to more than one country, as economic circumstances will be country wide, but not regional. Solutions that appeal to both France and Germany would financially cripple or kill other EU countries. The solutions will be complex and incredibly painful for the weakest countries, and protests and riots are almost sure to follow. And still, the system will most likely collapse.
To drive the point home.. So, if the EU fractures, what sort of effect will it have here in America? Our financial structures And our government are both perilously close to collapse, and locked in tight with all of Europe. How could we possibly absorb the implosion of so many economically interwoven allies? How?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)