More of the simplistic thinking that ignores the extent to which the state has been the driver of the economy in the Republic, and has subsidised the private sector and continues to do so, in which the private sector worker is seen the victim of the vampiric unemployed and public sector from Eamon Blaney. Think about it, if you and your partner are both lucky enough to be working, your salaries have to pay for your own household, plus one person on social welfare and one civil servant. And if you think this is bad now, it is only going to get worse in the next two to three years. One of the most maddening things about the Sindo is its inconsistency (although we can rely on Gene Kerrigan to have something worth reading every week, including this week). One week, we’ll be told Lenihan... Similar posts

Eilis O’Hanlon makes a welcome return, with her idea that the current crisis was sparked not by anything inherent in the capitalist system nor anything structural within the way the banks pursued ever greater profits in alliance with the developers and their political representatives, but by a few mistakes by some important and well-paid people causing other bad decisions. But that’s the basic gist. Bad decisions were made by one lot of people, which resulted in another lot making further mistakes, and not enough other people spotted it until it was too late. The rest is mere detail. So forget trying to understand how the world works. People are idiots. The rest is detail. Men make their own history, through their own mistakes, and nothing else matters. Daniel McConnell has... Similar posts

It seems the Sunday Independent has found a new source to blame for the problems in the southern economy. It isn’t the trade unions, but it is the public sector, or a branch thereof. Now, it seems that it was preciselybecause the public sector wasn’t effective enough in restraining the private sector’s baser instincts. I wish these people would make their minds up. After all, wasn’t the reason for the previous successes the lack of public regulation, and wasn’t trusting our entrepreneurs the way out? In third place, Jody Corcoran, in a piece saying we are all to blame, but especially the public sector, lays most of the blame at the door of the Department of Finance. They who sucked on the hind tit of this benchmarking lark year after year, it financed by the... Similar posts

After the last budget, Brian Lenihan was almost universally praised in the Sindo as the saviour of the state, the man with the talent, will and determination to do what needed done. Then more recently there was quite a bit of criticism of him, and of NAMA. Now it seems, we are back to Lenihan the superman. In third place, Aengus Fanning offers the following by way of introduction to an interview with Lenihan. The iron has entered Brian Lenihan’s soul. On the surface, he is the charming, engaging, gracious Lenihan we know, but there is a new steel in his make-up, a distinct impatience to get things done. One senses that he has a shorter fuse these days with banks, bureaucracy, public sector work-to-rule, and with rich men, bailed out by Nama, who are continuing to live like lords. In... Similar posts