The recapitialisation of Irish banks seems to be designed to restore them to their previous prosperous ways before the decline in International finance which began 2007 and the rapid deflation of the Irish property bubble in 2008. The reassurances we are given by the big 2, AIB and Bank of Ireland and the Minister for [...]

So, the Brians are asking for advice. We should not begrudge them. It is time for all ‘good patriots’ to step forward and give our faltering government a helping hand. For we are now, effectively, looking into the third budget in five months. So where do we start?
No better place than with Sean O’Riain’s piece [...]

There is an almighty locomotive train of a consensus coming down the tracks at us: taxation. Many commentators are demanding that tax increases be substantial and immediate. Can this help resolve the crisis? The answer is: yes and no and, in some cases, it can make it worse. Taxation is, after all, an instrument; like [...]

The RTE Prime Time programme last night contained some of the most misleading (to put it mildly) presentation of facts and subsequent analysis to have been aired in a long time. Make no mistake about it: we are being prepared for the economic abattoir. And if you need any proof that the Left is rapidly [...]

As a welcome to the new TASC economic blog progressive-economy@tasc and to acknowledge the first year of Irish Left Review all this week we are publishing one post every day from the new blog. Today’s post is by David Jacobson.
I can’t help wondering why the people whose theories are responsible for the current crisis continue [...]

Writing in the Irish Economy blog Karl Whelan has a quibble about the argument that developed between Fintan O’Toole and Martin Cullen while discussing the pension levy on Questions and Answers last Monday evening. Specifically, O’Toole reprised his point which he made in the Irish Times that the government was not aware of exactly how [...]

The above is a graphical representation of a failed bank.
The liabilities consist of deposits, which are promises the bank has made to pay out cash on demand to depositors. We can treat this as a fixed amount, and hence it is in grey. The assets are loans, some of which are performing and some are [...]

“An aristocracy in a republic is like a chicken whose head has been cut off; it may run about in a lively way, but in fact it is dead.”
Nancy Mitford

Amidst the collapse of the Irish economy, the inhabitants of a rural hinterland begin to feel the touch of the dead hand of the housing market.
This [...]

There will be a variety of slogans on placards on the National Demonstration this Saturday:
There is a Better Way • Bail Out People, Not Banks • Punish the Corrupt, Not the Victims  • Workers Unite
All catchy in their own way.  But here’s the text for a placard that should be carried by thousands and memorised [...]

‘You do not get it. You are stupid. Do not demonstrate. Do not remonstrate. You are interfering in things you do not understand and you are making matters worse. Go back home. Sit down. Shut up. And let your betters sort things out.’

End communication from your Econo-Overlords VMT (Von Mises Tendency)
I am getting increasingly [...]