Upside of Recession

[ruben_sosa]

anyone else loving this financial 'crisis' ? It's not really a crisis when the price of everything is plumetting, from food to mortgage repayments. Seeing the estate agents, bankers and construction workers losing their jobs, the very cabal who created the worldwide housing bubble... well it's just great. For those of us with jobs who didn't go out and buy three apartments in poland and two houses in swords it's great to see people regretting their arrogance, or those who remortgaged their house so they could buy a spanking new 4x4. The shops who have ripped us off for so long are now in dire straits, people like harvey norman who thought we were easy pickings will be left sick when we're snapping up their stuff at a good discount during their closing down sale. Fuel is going down in price - another plus of the 'crisis'. The lazy, overpaid, underskilled civil servants are going to get it in the neck in 2009 with a bit of luck and the ultra-rich who have hidden their money away in offshore banks or invested millions in the stock market - they're f*cked too.

all in all, i find this current climate to be a lot less stressful and quality of life a lot better than during the 'boom'. long may it continue.

[brianw82]

Good business in shoe repairs right now. So I'm told.

Inflation down almost 2% in November due to all of what you mentioned. Long may that last!

[pete]

Loving it is a bit much with ordinary people losing their jobs.

It is true though that is you can keep your job or on say on a fixed income (e.g. pensioner) then the cost of living will come down a lot. If you are young your pension will also recover but if close to retirement will have seen funds take a bit hit. Lack of pay rise not so important when prices slashed for almost everything & inflation down at lowest rate in long time. Cost of living decreases good for the future of the country as has become more expensive for foreigner companies to locate here & for tourists.

Car Dealers slashing prices

IRISH car dealers are so desperate to get rid of growing stockpiles of second-hand motors that they are reducing prices by as much as 25%, a Sunday Times survey has found.

[Poor Student]

Just wait until deflation takes your wages down with it.

[BohsPartisan]

The lazy, overpaid, underskilled civil servants are going to get it in the neck in 2009 with a bit of luck

What about the lazy stereotyping foot.ie posters?

Do you know what a civil servant gets paid? The vast majority are certainly not overpaid or underskilled. Are any of them lazy? Sure there are some but I've worked in the private sector too and there were lazy people there aswel. Face it, public sector workers will pretty soon be the ones keeping the economy afloat because we'll be the only ones spending money.

[NeilMcD]

I think if you can keep your job in this environment, well then you are doing well as everybody knows the cost of living is coming down and your mortgage has taken a big drop if you are on a variable or a tracker.

In relation to Pete saying its a bit much. Well lots of people were told that they should be lovilng the Celtic Tiger despite the fact that they were homeless or they could not afford a place to live despite having a steady good job etc.

It is not fair that only a certain part of society get to celebrate in the boom years and then another part of society do not get to celebrate the recession. If it suits I think go and celebrate it and do not say sorry for it.

[ruben_sosa]

What about the lazy stereotyping foot.ie posters?

Do you know what a civil servant gets paid? The vast majority are certainly not overpaid or underskilled. Are any of them lazy? Sure there are some but I've worked in the private sector too and there were lazy people there aswel. Face it, public sector workers will pretty soon be the ones keeping the economy afloat because we'll be the only ones spending money.

yeah i do, my ex was a civil servant and she basically wrote cheques to taxi drivers and got paid 42k a year for it, plus a pension when she retires. Her mother is also a civil servant, has been for many years... and doesn't know how to use a computer. So yeah, they are lazy and unskilled and overpaid, and they're not subject to the performance targets that we in the private sector are, they get their national wage agreement increases no matter what... or they did until the tax returns went tits up this year. Don't try and defend civil servants to me, because i'll just list off the projects that civil servants have ****ed up and thrown billions of euro at. Even now civil servants can't do their jobs, so they pay millions to bloated consulting and PR companies to do it for them.

PULSE anyone ?

And it won't be the civil servants spending Ireland out of a recession (love that Celtic tiger mentality by the way - spend our way outa trouble lol) because the civil servants are in for a rude shock.

http://www.thepost.ie/post/pages/p/s...038-qqqx=1.asp

"The secretaries-general the top civil servants - of each government department were also briefed last week and in part proposals for cuts in their departments to the new body which is overseeing the programme.

The body, chaired by UCD economist Colm McCarthy, will begin to issue its recommendations at the end of January.

The group will examine each department’s budget and produce a recommendation for cutbacks, many of which are likely to be implemented immediately. Department of Finance officials are currently conducting a line-by-line examination of each department’s budget."

[BohsPartisan]

Don't try and defend civil servants to me, because i'll just list off the projects that civil servants have ****ed up and thrown billions of euro at.

What like ppars? cough cough private contractors, cough outsourcing. Lets see, can I name something the private sector fckd up? Oh yeah, the entire world economy!

[ruben_sosa]

What like ppars? cough cough private contractors, cough outsourcing. Lets see, can I name something the private sector fckd up? Oh yeah, the entire world economy!

As an IT professional, i know first hand that it's up to the customer (civil service) to ensure that they're getting value for money and getting what they have asked for from those delivering the product. If you don't have clearly defined goals and key milestones set out from the start of a Project, it's doomed to suffer from all sorts of problems like budget and date creep - but nothing on the scale of incompetence demonstrated time and again by the civil service. The simple fact is they didn't have a clue what they were asking for in the first place, and hadn't a feckin clue about managing large projects. Look at the roads for example - what clauses were built in by the customer so they project delays/overspend would be picked up by the builders? none - so they kept getting invoices from the builders as the delays built up.
And it's my own belief that it's not the banks or private business that has created the current crisis - it's the central banks who cut rates agressively in the 90's and started the lending bubble, and then in the space of a few months raised them just as agressively to start the current crisis. Government de-regulation of the financial industry also must take a lot of blame for the advent of these recent financial instruments which are at the root of the problem.

if you let the dog off the leash, don't be surprised if it bites you.

[pete]

Please keep this on topic as there are already topics in CA to cover the Financial Crisis etc...

Just like an recession there are certain businesses that will do well & others that will fold. In a housing boom any fool can build & sell houses.

Probably never a better time to be buying cars or electrical goods (euro = 90p sterling now) as long you still have a job.

There is no doubt public sector is the best place to be in a recession. YOu might have a pay freeze but not likely to see pat cut & can't be made redundant unless it is voluntary.

[NeilMcD]

[QUOTE=ruben_sosa;1074937]yeah i do, my ex was a civil servant and she basically wrote cheques to taxi drivers and got paid 42k a year for it, plus a pension when she retires. Her mother is also a civil servant, has been for many years... and doesn't know how to use a computer.




I wonder is the fact that she is now your ex that you have such bitterness. You know if you think that it easy, you should try this, www.publicjobs.ie, you are free to apply for a job there if you would like to join the so called lazy and unsklled civil servants. So you have picked two people from the same family, and in addition maybe your exs mother did not have to use a computer in her job there is loads of people in the private sector that do not use a computer but that proves nothing. /What a stupid point that is.

[ruben_sosa]

[QUOTE=NeilMcD;1074977]

yeah i do, my ex was a civil servant and she basically wrote cheques to taxi drivers and got paid 42k a year for it, plus a pension when she retires. Her mother is also a civil servant, has been for many years... and doesn't know how to use a computer.




I wonder is the fact that she is now your ex that you have such bitterness. You know if you think that it easy, you should try this, www.publicjobs.ie, you are free to apply for a job there if you would like to join the so called lazy and unsklled civil servants. So you have picked two people from the same family, and in addition maybe your exs mother did not have to use a computer in her job there is loads of people in the private sector that do not use a computer but that proves nothing. /What a stupid point that is.

grow up you spanner, i have given two good examples of civil servants in different departments who are overpaid and underskilled, because it's endemic in the civil service. Having a desk job while being computer illiterate in this age could only happen in the civil service where systems are antiquated, inefficient, inadequate and slow - hence the complaints by people when trying to access government services and the haemmoraging of public money in these departments, not to mention the fraud these departments like social welfare are prone to because of their poor systems and mismanagement. It's obvious the people on this thread who are defending the lazy civil servants, are lazy civil servants themselves. Maybe i'll go for a job in FAS, they seem like one of the government agencies that deliver good value for money and aren't lazy and .... oh wait

[BohsPartisan]

It's obvious the people on this thread who are defending the lazy civil servants, are lazy civil servants themselves. Maybe i'll go for a job in FAS, they seem like one of the government agencies that deliver good value for money and aren't lazy and .... oh wait

You obviously have some sort of personal issues that would be better left off the internet.

Some facts: Fraud in the public sector is a drop in the ocean compared to fraud in the private sector. Ask Beverly Cooper Flynn.
I had over a grand charged to my credit card last week by a fraudster, should I blame everyone working in the private sector for that?
Having a desk job and being computer illiterate could only happen in the public sector? Really? Have you ever rang BT or Eircom customer support? Do you think they are efficient? How about when you go into a hardware store and the eye rolling sixteen year olds working there don't know anything about hardware? Which sector would that be? As for your previous post where you blamed the central banks for the economic crisis, ask yourself, who really pulls the strings there. They are bankers and part of the banking class, looking after the interests of their colleagues. How about that housing boom eh? Did the public sector let it get out of control? Did the public sector give out 100% mortgages? Did the public sector over-inflate the price of houses? Was it the public sector buying "investment" properties and now en-masse trying to offload them?
As for it being up to "the customer" to make sure we are getting value for money, try it sometime. I deal with outside contractors on a regular basis and they don't give a sht once they have secured the contract for a job. You can ring them, email them as much as you like and they hand up the same shoddy product at the end of the day. You've given two examples. Wow. You wouldn't get very far in statistical analysis with that approach.

There are lazy people in all walks of life, get over it. Did you fail the civil service exam or something? Is that why you're bitter?

[shantykelly]

[QUOTE=ruben_sosa;1075006]

grow up you spanner, i have given two good examples of civil servants in different departments who are overpaid and underskilled, because it's endemic in the civil service. Having a desk job while being computer illiterate in this age could only happen in the civil service where systems are antiquated, inefficient, inadequate and slow - hence the complaints by people when trying to access government services and the haemmoraging of public money in these departments, not to mention the fraud these departments like social welfare are prone to because of their poor systems and mismanagement. It's obvious the people on this thread who are defending the lazy civil servants, are lazy civil servants themselves. Maybe i'll go for a job in FAS, they seem like one of the government agencies that deliver good value for money and aren't lazy and .... oh wait

i work in construction, and i work with fellas who are barely able to use computers - htey're in their late twenties to mid thirties. not everyone grows up a nerd. as for fraud? i think its fair to say that construction is probably the most corrupt work sector around and it stems form the private sector. ive also had the opprotunity to work alongside civil servants in the republic on public sector contracts, and by and large they weren't lazy, overpaid, inefficient or slow - they were doing their job to the best of their abilities. they attempted to deliver value for money with public finances, they just weren't as experienced as some at lying, cheating and blagging as my colleagues.

it seems that your personal experiences have tempered your views on folk who do jobs that have to be done. two different (but related) people in the public sector in different depts. inefficient at their job, and you tar them all with the same brush. brilliant logic and reasoning.