The Euro

[Macy]

Didn't read the report published yesterday yet, but how is Neary not in jail? At the very least he collected a couple of hundred grand a year for doing nack all. Fraud, no?

Because he was only doing what the Government, his boss, wanted. The Honohan report is quite clear were most blame lies, not that you'd get that from RTE "reports".

On McWilliams, whatever respect I had left went when I got the latest flier from The Abbey, for "Outsiders"...

[mypost]

The Euro protected us from Icelandic freefall here 18 months ago. Without the Euro, they hadn't a leg to stand on. Nobody will leave the Euro, while 17 countries currently use it with more to follow. Economically, it's the only way forward.

[Fr Damo]

Because he was only doing what the Government, his boss, wanted. The Honohan report is quite clear were most blame lies, not that you'd get that from RTE "reports".

So he ruined his reputation in the process for a couple of years salary. If he didn't like what he was told to do he should have left office. I on the other hand think he simply wasn't capable. Prime time last night was a classic. The lies we were told about the banks.... "so well caplitalised"..." fundamentals are strong"... "Nobody saw it coming"...... "go off and commit harry carry".

The Euro protected us from Icelandic freefall here 18 months ago. Without the Euro, they hadn't a leg to stand on. Nobody will leave the Euro, while 17 countries currently use it with more to follow. Economically, it's the only way forward.

Sums it up mypost.

[Macy]

So he ruined his reputation in the process for a couple of years salary. If he didn't like what he was told to do he should have left office. I on the other hand think he simply wasn't capable.

I agree to a degree, but you have to put in the context of the time, when the leader of this state was telling the naysayers to go and commit suicide, and the fact that the bubble was making massive money for the main Government Parties galway tent benefactors of bankers and developers. He's a handy fall guy for Cowen, Lenihan et al though...

[OneRedArmy]

Because he was only doing what the Government, his boss, wanted. The Honohan report is quite clear were most blame lies, not that you'd get that from RTE "reports".

On McWilliams, whatever respect I had left went when I got the latest flier from The Abbey, for "Outsiders"...

I agree to a degree, but you have to put in the context of the time, when the leader of this state was telling the naysayers to go and commit suicide, and the fact that the bubble was making massive money for the main Government Parties galway tent benefactors of bankers and developers. He's a handy fall guy for Cowen, Lenihan et al though...

I've read both reports and my own view would be that the blame is (correctly) fairly evenly doled out between Government, Central Bank/FinReg and the banks, with the Regulator coming out of it worst on balance.

The Financial Regulator isn't supposed to be betrothed to the Government of the day, they are required to be independent.

[dahamsta]

I thought Biffo's comment about the IMF predicting further growth in Ireland a couple of years ago was the best. Because of course everyone should rest their entire economic strategy on the IMF's word.

Plus of course the bank economists...

[Macy]

The Financial Regulator isn't supposed to be betrothed to the Government of the day, they are required to be independent.

No, they're not supposed to be... Now we have a Financial Regulator and Head of the Central Bank who are independent. Honohan comes out with much credit for ignoring his terms of reference and putting the boot in to FF. Pity the resulting enquiry won't look into the Government decisions.

[OneRedArmy]

No, they're not supposed to be... Now we have a Financial Regulator and Head of the Central Bank who are independent. Honohan comes out with much credit for ignoring his terms of reference and putting the boot in to FF. Pity the resulting enquiry won't look into the Government decisions.

Sorry, you've lost me.

Are you saying the Financial Regulator (which is a body corporate, and not a person as the media seem to think) was supposed to be independent from Government, or wasn't in practice independent from Government?

I'm struggling to see where you're coming from as both reports clearly state the Financial Regulator was too easily influenced by the banks. For all the Governments sins, they didn't need to bother trying to influence the FinReg, as they were doing such an inept job anyway.

[Macy]

Crap formation of my post, sorry. My point is that they are supposed to be independent, but they weren't in practice. And I do think that the Government influenced the relationship between regulator and central bank, and the banks. Light touch regulation was a Government policy (arguably still is, although Saint Lenihan was brought into line when he tried to side with the Brits on that), the Financial Regulator just implemented that policy. Given the lack of records uncovered in other examples, I doubt there's a paper trail to the Government exerting influence, so we'll just have to rely on things like the fact that Government didn't attempt to change the regulatory framework for the years the regulator was apparently "inept".

[OneRedArmy]

Crap formation of my post, sorry. My point is that they are supposed to be independent, but they weren't in practice. And I do think that the Government influenced the relationship between regulator and central bank, and the banks. Light touch regulation was a Government policy (arguably still is, although Saint Lenihan was brought into line when he tried to side with the Brits on that), the Financial Regulator just implemented that policy. Given the lack of records uncovered in other examples, I doubt there's a paper trail to the Government exerting influence, so we'll just have to rely on things like the fact that Government didn't attempt to change the regulatory framework for the years the regulator was apparently "inept".

I think we're in agreement!

For me the key thing in the report was absolutely showing up the FF assertion that it was all Lehmans fault. The report clearly states that was an accelerant that brought the problems to the surface quicker, but we'd have been goosed sooner rather than later anyway.

Wonder will Bertie be coming on any talkshows to discuss?

[John83]

Just for the lay people among us - by "defaulting", are we kind of talking the same thing as Derry and Cork in the league last year?

My opinion of the B.Comm. has just taken yet another hit.

[pineapple stu]

Hey, I'm not the one who had to go to the third world to get a job.

I outlined the point I was unsure on later on.

[mypost]

Most economists were blaming the strong euro for our lack of competitiveness, so at least export trade will improve, which would in turn impact on the balance of payments. Interesting to note that non-eurozone members such as Hungary and Latvia are facing some of the stiffest austerity measures, while the UK economy suggests that we would be little better off if we had kept the punt.

Well if economists did research instead of waffling to O'Callaghan and Browne, they would know that there are many other countries throughout the world in severe recession, not just the 17 using the Euro. They all have to find a way out of it somehow. When Lehman's kicked the bucket, the dollar and the pound collapsed, several non-Euro countries needed the IMF to support them, while the Euro stayed upright in the storm. Germany has several non-Euro neighbours, yet emerged from recession well before the rest of the Eurozone did.

Our problems are down to FF policies, not the Euro.