Originally Posted by
carlos marvado
If this arguement were true, all the other Euro zone countries would have to be in the exact same shit as we are.......and the Americans also had their sub-prime loans and over-valued property and no sign of the Euro there. Ireland's problems are largely of Ireland's making......no point in blaming the British anymore for all our ills or the other Europeans either now........we just have to learn that if we want to live the dream, we have to earn it and that means becoming more cost competitive, living within our means and breaking up the monopolies and creating real competition out there.
No because Ireland unlike most other Eurozone countries was actually experiencing a boom when we joined the Euro, surely you remember all the headlines about the fastest growing economy in the EU. The only other country that was having a bit of a boom was Spain and guess what they are fucked as well exact same problem cheap credit fueling an already booming property market.
If you had read what i said you would see that the Euro interest rates were lowered to try and kick start the stagnant French,German economies but that was effectively throwing petrol on the fire in Ireland and Spain.
Our cost competitivness got out of control exactly because of the Euro cheap credit banks with the backing of the ECB throwing money at developers. We can bitch about the regulators but the truth is as well that the regulators had their hands tied as well.
The government did not want it to stop because they could not afford for it to stop but also what could the regulator do prevent Irish banks from lending money?? We have non Irish regulated banks here as well the regulators had their hands tied they could not put restrictions on Irish banks while other non irish regulated banks could give out the money and the irish banks would have dragged the Irish government to the EU on competition grounds.
We handed over control of the tools needed to regulate the economy to the EU and the EU did what was in the interest of the biggest members not what was in Irelands interest. It was clearly not in Irelands interest to have the lowest historical interest rates at a time of a property boom but it happened because it was in France and Germanys interest to have low interest rates. We are now paying a heavy price for that.
Of course these facts are an embarrassment to those who would tell you the EU saved us yes they did but only after they nearly drowned us. Its like calling the guy who had his foot on your head keeping you under the water a hero because he removed his foot before you drowned.
Its the Crips and the Bloods all over again