Wednesday, Feb 8th 2012
This article was originally published in the journal.ie last night.
How many speculators does it take to change a light bulb? The answer is none. They still think the broken one works.
The business model of asset price speculation - the model that broke the world - informs the National Assets Management Agency (NAMA), and it is [...]
On Saturday, the Irish Times devoted a full page to the question of whether austerity is working, on foot of the letter by 60 prominent public figures. International commentators such as Joseph Stiglitz and Nouriel Roubini and domestic commentators Terence McDonagh from UCG, Brid O’Brien from the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed and businessperson Brian [...]
Media outlets are reporting a new crackdown on the unemployed. Apparently, the Department of Social Protection intends to introduce new regulations whereby ‘target-dates’ for exiting the Live Register will be set for different categories of unemployed. If someone remains on the Live Register past that target-date, they may be subject to a new set of interviews [...]
The Promissory Notes | Tom McDonnell
Economist Tom McDonnell of TASC provides a brief primer on IBRC promissory notes, which is available on Slideshare. Click here to view it in it’s own web page.
Tom mcdonnellpromnotes240112
View more presentations from TASCslides
Statement from Repudiate the Debt Campaign
Once again the Government is handing over public money, this time €1.25 billion, to pay off the bond-holders of Anglo-Irish Bank. This callous, odious and unjust debt is taking a heavy toll on the Irish people.
This odious debt imposed on our people by the EU and ECB is simply [...]
Michael Taft talks to Doug Henwood of Left Business Observer about the Irish Economy| 7th of January
Michael Taft talks to Doug Henwood of Behind the News in a detailed 30 minute discussion about the Irish economy which was posted on the 7th of Jan. The second half of the show is given over to a [...]
Ireland is not Greece: we get a lot of that from Government ministers, Troika officials and commentators. This truism, however, says less than it purports to. Yes, Ireland is not Greece. Ireland is not Belgium, Romania, Brunei, the Yukon Territory or Idaho, either. Of course, the message is that Greece is a basket-case that no [...]
Press release from Debt Justice Action today, following the ‘incendiary’ remarks from Minister Leo Varadkar. See also this very clear Q&A explaining Anglo/INBS promissory notes, Emergency Lending Assistance (ELA), the role of the Central Bank of Ireland, the ECB and the liabilities of the Irish state.
The campaigning network Debt Justice Action has today dismissed claims from Minister Leo [...]
This is a comparison between the number of vacant housing units uncovered by last year’s census, compared with the social housing needs of the state on a county-by-county basis, as provided by the Dept. of the Environment.
The excel file of this information is here.
Below is a graph of the ratio of vacant housing to social [...]
On Wednesday 21 December 2011 Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan announced that NAMA were to make 2,000 properties available to the Government for social housing.
The units, which were said to make up 20% of NAMAs residential property portfolio would be managed by local authorities and housing associations and funded via the Social Housing Leasing [...]
