Irish economy Ideas or dark ages?
I have been reading various threads over the last few weeks which seem to be welcoming of the possibility of Ireland defaulting and having to go begging to theIMF. The uncontrollable glee that some posters have for this scenario is worrying .I know that things are not good at the moment, I know that the government have f**Ked us over. But instead of wishing our country to fail I would like to see some positive ideas as to how to improve the situation. Anyone who says smart economy can go and sign themselves in for psychiatric help, the current government’s vision of a smart economy involves a couple of solar panels screwed to the roof of a call centre.
I want genuine worthwhile ideas to stimulate our economy and our people. Suppose this type of thread has been posted before and been shot down immediately by the naysayers.
It is obvious that any stimulus will have to come from the private sector as I believe our government intends to destroy our economy completely. Can we as a people develop ideas at a local level that can be transferred to the wider community which will make it possible for our society to make progress into the twenty-first century or are we entering new dark ages with no progress for the next fifty years

Its been said we have turned the corner but I believe what that really means is that we are recovering from the shock of the sudden economic crash. I believe we are close to the bottom of the V but to get to that bottom there is more pain and pain means more unemployed. Hopefully this will not hit another 50000 or anything like it. No matter what government we have severe economic corrections have to be made. Complaining about the crazy cost of living like €4 for a cup of coffee or €400000 for a house that should only be €250000 is pointless if we do not like the pain to sort out the problem. Again, no matter what government we have there will be no stimulas to revive the economy until the dirty work is finished

Set up a good bank model. Ditch NAMA. Have a transition phase from Fractional Reserve Banking to the Free Banking Model.

Prepare to set up our own currency.

Cut out all the Quangos. That would save up to 15 Billion Euro.

Become a self sufficient island once again. Protectionism is on its way back, best to be ready for it.

Simplify government. TDs down to 80. Seanad is a good idea in principle, but what horrendous bill has it ever stopped? President remains but must have the courage like the Icelandic President who stopped their banking bill.

Complete market Liberalisation. Health and education remain institutions of government as market failure would result here to the detriment of people.

Law and Order? Everything will be cool, as there will be no psychopaths left after the revolution.

Celebratory drinks will be on me...

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Do you remember,writing in your diary,Freedom is the freedom to say that 2 plus 2 make 4?'.Yes,said Winston.O'Brien held up his left hand,its back towards Winston,with the thumb hidden and the four fingers extended.How many fingers am I holding up,Winston?.Four.And if the party says that it is not four but five,then how many?.The needle went up to 60 How many fingers,Winston?'Four!Stop it,stop it!How can you go on?Four!Four!'How many fingers,Winston?'Five!Five!Five!


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charley

The outline of a presentation to students in Waterford IT tomorrow.

Ireland is at a crossroads in its economic development, we have had the celtic tiger years powered in large part by a dependence on property, the bubble has now burst quite spectacularly and we are now left paying the bills for our years of state and personal overspending.

The tiger years also had the unfortunate effect of driving our business costs higher than our competitors and our celebrated tax advantages as a location for inward investment by multinational companies no longer make enough of a difference and in any case our tax model has been very effectively copied by the eastern european countries who now compete very effectively for FDI and they also have much lower wage costs.

A grim picture indeed, the new reality of economic depression means that we can no longer afford to pay the wages of a large public service and also pay for health, education and all the other things we had begun to take for granted and we have the extra burden of the cost of saving our banks from collapse.

But we have an ace to play, we are very fortunate to have renewable energy resources in such quantity that we have the same energy wealth per capita as Saudi Arabia. But unlike the oil producers our energy wealth is replenished every day and will never run out. Every 24hrs, energy in the form of wind blows across our green and fertile land and if costed at present wholesale electricity prices, a staggering €60 billion euro's worth blows through our hair every day, no one has costed the value of the wave energy washing up on our shores, but is certain to be a multiple of this.

But renewable energy has a drawback, it is intermittant and the wind does does not always blow at the times we need it. Big problem, not really, Mother Nature also provided us with natural sites for pumped hydro storage reservoirs, so when the wind blows we use the electricity generated by wind turbines or a little way into the future, wave generators, to pump seawater into a hanging glacial valley, across the mouth of which we have built a dam, and when we need the electricity, we allow this water to flow back down the cliff via water turbines, to generate as much electricity as we need, when we need it. To explain the process visually take a luck at this link. Spirit of Ireland - National Project for Energy Independence

Renewable energy has the great advantage that once we have repaid the capital cost of the turbines, the fuel is free. So there are no variable costs and very small operational costs. This gives renewable energy the ability to provide very stable energy costs over time and in a world of peak oil and the inevitable rise in the cost of fossil fuels, a country that can guarantee a plentiful supply of energy at a stable low cost, will have a big competitive advantage over rivals who depend on fossil fuels.

But there is another advantage. In a world concerned about climate change and the rise of CO2 levels in the atmosphere, who can cost the image advantage to a company to be able to promote their products as having been produced by green energy.

And the cherry on the cake, is that to build this infrastructure we will need tens of thousands of the very people who are now unemployed, our construction workers.

So a low energy cost guaranteed for at least a decade, and with the ability to promote ourselves as the home of green energy, I believe we can regain the growth curve to a new era of prosperity.

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Regards, Pat Gill
My posting name does not indicate my political views
labourure or greenure, do not have the same ding.

Nice one Pat.
I agree that we have enormous potential to not only produce green energy but to export our future technical expertise in these areas to the rest of Europe. Right now we lag behind our European neighbours.

I always regretted that during the building boom we did not concentrate on building quality instead of quality. We could have gained expertise in building energy efficient homes and in doing so acquired the skills to help us now. Less houses may have been built and cost slightly more but that would have been better than a glut of housing estates with no play areas, community centres, waste mangement and efficint energy and transport systems.

stuff like this
Highland Radio More wind farms could be on the way in scenic areas

but the we get this
Leave Donegal landscape alone - wind farm objectors - Donegal Today

Yes Fiannafailure I forgot to include energy in my package. Thanks. Cheap renewable energy is defo. Have you heard about Zero point energy? I

__________________
Do you remember,writing in your diary,Freedom is the freedom to say that 2 plus 2 make 4?'.Yes,said Winston.O'Brien held up his left hand,its back towards Winston,with the thumb hidden and the four fingers extended.How many fingers am I holding up,Winston?.Four.And if the party says that it is not four but five,then how many?.The needle went up to 60 How many fingers,Winston?'Four!Stop it,stop it!How can you go on?Four!Four!'How many fingers,Winston?'Five!Five!Five!


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I have indeed heard of zero point energy, quantum mechanics is an interest of mine.

Define the characteristics of the quantum foam and we are half way there, it will be ready by lunchtime Friday.

charley

The S of I rapid reaction force were in Donegal today to present to the county manager on the Clare wind strategy, by the way the Dinorwig pumped hydro plant and the Seville solar tower both attract in excess of 1 million tourists each year, eco tourism is a very resilient market.

Paddtthai,

Our future is in the hands of our students, we must teach them well

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Regards, Pat Gill
My posting name does not indicate my political views
labourure or greenure, do not have the same ding.

There is a lot going on. Google 'Transition towns'. People are actually just making a start at building their own futures where they live by talking to their neighbours and organising communities.

Transition Culture

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"But do 'climategate' revelations justify the sceptics’ claims that this is “the final nail in the coffin” of global warming theory? Not at all. They damage the credibility of three or four scientists. They raise questions about the integrity of one or perhaps two out of several hundred lines of evidence."

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i'm talking about comunities that have jobs and shops and schools and sewage plants and running water not comunes full of enviromental extremists your views are to extreme for rural ireland ,the majority of people want a safe place to bring up their children high employment equals lower crime,a chance to improve your circumstances ,comunes do not foster this. i respect your point of view but it is not the future i want to see