IMF Report on Ireland

[sarahj]

Ive often thought this myself. For a thoroughly socialist society to operate efficiently and authentically, practically the whole world would have to be socialist also.

Yup - total cooperation cannot exist in the midst of an atmosphere of cutthroat competition. It's why many coops fail I think.

[libertarian-right]

AIB Corporate Banking

Goodbodys believe around €5.2billion in debt servicing next year. Well done FF.

[Middleaged]

Which will represent approx 16% of income, I wish servicing my debt was 16% of Household income.

[myksav]

Wow, you are so convinced that the status quo is right, fair play to those in power for convincing you.

Patent rights are inefficient. They limit innovation. It's obvious. If you have to pay someone to use their new idea to build on and innovate further, you just won't bother most of the time.

Which limits innovation and thus nullifies your argument.

We don't have any socialist systems.

Do yo actually understand patents? Or innovation?

If you come up with an new idea, you check the patents records to see if it already exists. If not, you patent your idea. If yes, you alter your idea until it no longer matches the existing patent.

Innovation is not taking someone elses idea and working it, that is patent development.

Do you have a problem with paying someone for their time and effort in developing a new idea?

[DCon]

Yup - total cooperation cannot exist in the midst of an atmosphere of cutthroat competition. It's why many coops fail I think.

This is the problem with your plan for Ireland. It will only work if the whole world adopts your plan and that is not going to happen I'm afraid.

To use the earlier example of paddy PC making computers in the Dell plant when Dell leave..Paddy PC would cost(and waste) a lot, sell nothing and be closed down in a matter of month's

[bob3344]

This is the problem with your plan for Ireland. It will only work if the whole world adopts your plan and that is not going to happen I'm afraid.

To use the earlier example of paddy PC making computers in the Dell plant when Dell leave..Paddy PC would cost(and waste) a lot, sell nothing and be closed down in a matter of month's

Makes you wonder why people drone on about socialism so much if even they recognise that it can never succeed.

Maybe the 'plan' is to join forces with cuba ?

[DCon]

In other news,

Ireland won the European Union's approval Friday to spend euro4 billion ($5.58 billion) to recapitalize troubled property lender Anglo Irish Bank Corp.

The EU's executive commission said they approved the cash injection because it was "required as a matter of urgency to preserve the financial stability of the bank" and maintain confidence in Irish financial markets.

The Irish government took over the bank in January as it racked up massive losses on dud loans in Ireland's now-collapsed property market. It also gave the bank a euro1.5 billion recapitalization last year.

EU regulators must check large state subsidies to make sure that they don't distort competition by giving one company an unfair advantage over rivals.

The Irish government must draft a restructuring plan for the bank by the end of November for the EU to approve. This could require the bank to shed units and jobs to show that it can stay afloat without state help.

Anglo lost euro3.8 billion in the six months ending March 31, citing widespread defaults in its loans to property developers. It expects to lose euro7.5 billion on loans by September 2011.

The government seized control of Anglo amid a string of scandals that undermined confidence in Ireland's entire banking system.

Anglo admitted hiding tens of millions in loans to its own previous chairman, Sean FitzPatrick; floating loans to top businessmen on condition they buy more than euro450 million of Anglo's now-worthless shares; and hiding the true scale of its losses from the global investment community.

Ireland's police and corporate ethics watchdog are pursuing related probes into possible criminal conduct in all three cases.

Ireland wins EU OK for euro4 bln bank bailout - BusinessWeek

[DCon]

Cowen comes out swinging:

Taoiseach Brian Cowen has rejected suggestions that he should apologise for his handling of the economy while Minister for Finance. Speaking to RTÉ's News at One, he said he stood over the decisions he made, though he did not claim to have got everything right.

Reacting to a report from the IMF on the Irish economy, Mr Cowen said that a lot of money was available at the time the economy was growing, and that the context for decisions taken by the Government at the time must be taken into account.

He said the changes in the economic situation had been so radical that, at this time last year, the IMF was predicting 3% growth in the Irish economy, but was now forecasting a contraction of 8-9%.
Advertisement

Asked about the institutions within the remit of NAMA, and the IMF suggestion that nationalisation might be pursued, Mr Cowen said that 'the strong view of Government' was that keeping them available in the private sector was important.

'It is not an ideological point,' he said. 'Protecting the tax payer is the huge part of this'.

The Taoiseach said that the possibility that NAMA would not be restricted to property development loans - as suggested by the IMF - 'will get due consideration'.

[FutureChiefJustice]

Although the IMF think they are largely making the right choices, the 15% unemployment rate and the expenditure cuts will finish this government.

I actually hope there is not an election until late next year. I say this because the leading economic indicators have bottomed out this year and the lagging indicators will do so next year. Any new government who comes into power before september next year risks getting blamed for the continuing rise in unemployment. It's a slow uphill movement from there onuntil 2015/2016 when the economy will be back to pre-crash levels, hopefully on a sound basis.

My two cents: The IMF and our governemnt do not disagree on much, but one area where they do will take brass balls to overcome (public sector pay and employment levels). The government should not take any credit just because the IMF did not give them a thrashing. There has been a process of attrition here. The IMF basically said "In the context of the fact that the Irish government banjaxed the economy, they are taking some of the right steps to undo their previous incompetence."

A new governemnt would, I think, give people a sense of confidence (a key factor to the success of any non-communist economy) and accelerate the recovery. Well I'm off to do a PhD so see y'all on the other side of the recession! €: D

[powderfinger]

Cowen comes out swinging:

Taoiseach Brian Cowen has rejected suggestions that he should apologise for his handling of the economy while Minister for Finance. Speaking to RTÉ's News at One, he said he stood over the decisions he made, though he did not claim to have got everything right.

Reacting to a report from the IMF on the Irish economy, Mr Cowen said that a lot of money was available at the time the economy was growing, and that the context for decisions taken by the Government at the time must be taken into account.

He said the changes in the economic situation had been so radical that, at this time last year, the IMF was predicting 3% growth in the Irish economy, but was now forecasting a contraction of 8-9%.
Advertisement

Asked about the institutions within the remit of NAMA, and the IMF suggestion that nationalisation might be pursued, Mr Cowen said that 'the strong view of Government' was that keeping them available in the private sector was important.

'It is not an ideological point,' he said. 'Protecting the tax payer is the huge part of this'.

The Taoiseach said that the possibility that NAMA would not be restricted to property development loans - as suggested by the IMF - 'will get due consideration'.

What type of loans are being talked about here going forward DCon?