Ireland's "Doctor Doom" speaks out

[unlucky]

Great article from Morgan Kelly on the prognosis for Ireland:

Ireland's future depends on breaking free from bailout


He purports to have some inside info on how the bailout deal was done:

Ireland’s Last Stand began less shambolically than you might expect. The IMF, which believes that lenders should pay for their stupidity before it has to reach into its pocket, presented the Irish with a plan to haircut €30 billion of unguaranteed bonds by two-thirds on average. Lenihan was overjoyed, according to a source who was there, telling the IMF team: “You are Ireland’s salvation.”
The deal was torpedoed from an unexpected direction. At a conference call with the G7 finance ministers, the haircut was vetoed by US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner who, as his payment of $13 billion from government-owned AIG to Goldman Sachs showed, believes that bankers take priority over taxpayers. The only one to speak up for the Irish was UK chancellor George Osborne, but Geithner, as always, got his way. An instructive, if painful, lesson in the extent of US soft power, and in who our friends really are.

[niall]

Re: Ireland's "Doctor Doom" speaks out

Judging on how accurate his past predictions/observations have been, he really should be called Dr. Reality.
He's observing the trends and calling things as they are. No matter how many times he's been proven right, the Irish Government and status quo still don't pay attention.

[Thailandnotes]

Re: Ireland's "Doctor Doom" speaks out

Great article from Morgan Kelly on the prognosis for Ireland:

Thanks. Never read an article where the comments were so rich.

[jk]

Re: Ireland's "Doctor Doom" speaks out

great article.

"The IMF were scathing of the Irish performance, with one staffer describing the eagerness of some Irish negotiators to side with the ECB as displaying strong elements of Stockholm Syndrome."

but it was geithner who slipped in the knife.

[lektrode]

Re: Ireland's "Doctor Doom" speaks out

great article.

"The IMF were scathing of the Irish performance, with one staffer describing the eagerness of some Irish negotiators to side with the ECB as displaying strong elements of Stockholm Syndrome."

but it was geithner who slipped in the knife.

uh huh... and listening to the BS eminating from DC and the lamestream media is getting to the point of hilarious!

the media in The US could learn a thing or 2 from the Irish, THATS FOR DAMN SURE - AND WHAT HAVE THEY (msm) DONE FOR **US** LATELY, ANYWAY?
sides breathless coverage of will & kate

"....
Cutting Government borrowing to zero immediately is not painless but it is the only way of disentangling ourselves from the loan sharks who are intent on making an example of us. In contrast, the new Government’s current policy of lying on the ground with a begging bowl and hoping that someone takes pity on us does not make for a particularly strong negotiating position. By bringing our budget immediately into balance, we focus attention on the fact that Ireland’s problems stem almost entirely from the activities of six privately owned banks, while freeing ourselves to walk away from these poisonous institutions. Just as importantly, it sends a signal to the rest of the world that Ireland – which 20 years ago showed how a small country could drag itself out of poverty through the energy and hard work of its inhabitants, but has since fallen among thieves and their political fixers – is back and means business.




Of course, we all know that this will never happen. Irish politicians are too used to being rewarded by Brussels to start fighting against it, even if it is a matter of national survival. It is easier to be led along blindfold until the noose is slipped around our necks and we are kicked through the trapdoor into bankruptcy...."

[mmr]

Re: Ireland's "Doctor Doom" speaks out

Unfortunately the Irish government still provides an unlimited FDIC-type deposit guarantee for retail bank depositors, so they'd better give the remaining local depositors time to finish the ongoing bank run before forcing the banks to default, or the cost of the remaining deposits will go right bank into the national debt.

As an added bonus, in their infinite wisdom the Irish leadership invested 58% of their National Pension Reserve Fund (social security fund) in the stock of their banks.