ANOTHER week, another €8billion handout to Anglo Irish Bank, courtesy of taxpayers.
Young people are fleeing the country and those lucky enough to have work are crippled by negative equity. Pensions have been decimated, as has the weekly pay slip. The question is, will paying off Anglo’s debt be of any benefit to the economy.
Most experts suggest it won’t.
The politicians who introduced the bailout staunchly defend their decision.
There is a train of thought that offering protection to their developer friends was top priority…the very people that have brought the country to its knees.
Earlier this year one high-profile developer claimed he was broke, with debts in the region of €1.5billion.
A few months on, he is seeking permission for a €100m development in Dublin.
Are we bailing out the banks to allow developers go on another spending spree?
SMEs, students and first time buyers can’t get loans, and families hit by unemployment struggle to pay their mortgages.
This week UL economist Dr Stephen Kinsella, asked people to become conscious of two myths.
1. That our banking crisis was of international origin.
2. That nobody saw it coming, as Bernard McNamara pleaded: “I was hit on the road by something that no-one saw was coming”.
The only aspect more frustrating than the fact that these people still boast considerable wealth is our sense of helplessness.
We live on a small island and it is taken that the privileged few, with direct access to the corridors of power, will always be with us.
When will we ever learn?
