Ireland’s suffering offers a glimpse of Britain’s future under the Tories
February 8th, 2010
Larry Elliott on the carnage that’s been unleashed on Ireland and which the Tories would create here.
Richard Murphy
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And the alternative is? Take a look at Greece for the answer.
@Maas101
This has already been well bashed here
But for the record the two are not compatible:
a) Greece is a former dictatorship where he rule of law is weak
b) The Irish do fiddle, no doubt, but nothing like on the scale of Greece
c) Ireland has been honest about the scale of its problems
d) Ireland did have more going for it than Ireland. Maybe not now.
I’ll accept that the two are not compatible however neither are Ireland and the UK. Ireland ( and Greece ) are to a certain extent protected by the need to maintain the integrity of the Euro.
Without a credible plan to reduce the structural deficit the UK faces a gilts strike closely followed by a visit from the IMF. Do you seriously believe that the medicine administered by the IMF would be more palatable than that delivered by the Tories?
If Labour have a credible plan for getting the UK out of the current fiscal mess ( which you obviously believe to take the stance that you have ) then perhaps they or you would share it with us.
Oh I forgot, we are better placed than the rest of the world to weather the storm.
Ireland has no choice - it cannot devalue becuase it is in the Euro. There is no other course of action open to it. What alternative do you think there is Mr Murphy?
@Maas101
There is no hint of evidence form any credible source that there is one iota of risk to the UK’s credit worthiness or is capacity to raise or repay its debt
In which case engaging with your fantasy (for that is what it is) is meaningless
Apart from which you may have noticed Labour has such a plan
@General Sherman
Odd how every other nation bar Ireland has done it differently
And you’re saying there is no alternative?
How very odd
Why not do a little investigation before commenting/
Even read what Larry says?
Well, Greece has certainly tried to do it differently and look where it is getting them… Sovereign default imminent.
Larry Elliott doesnt actually indicate ireland has any choice - he blames their predicament upon being shackled to the euro. Latvia finds itself in a similar position with its Euro peg.
Had Ireland not chosen austerity then default would have been inevitable and the size of Ireland’s financial sector issues means the IMF would have to have been called in.
Why such glee about the IMF
Do you want the Washington Consensus to rule?
Capital over people? Is that your goal?
No glee at all - just an observation that the only entity capable of bailing Ireland out in such circumstances would have been the IMF (unless Angela Merkel was willing to write big cheques on behalf of the German taxpayer - which I somehow doubt given that at the time she was facing a general election).
Can you let me know what the alternative course is that you think Ireland should have plotted?
Larry Elliott is certainly adamant that Britain staying out of the euro is the best thing Gordon Brown has ever done.
One of the few times I agree with Larry. The euro area simply isn’t an optimal currency area and that’s what’s causing the current problems.
Richard
What are your political affiliations? It is clear that you are against “the right”, and so I would take it that you lean to “the left”. Can you say if you belong to a political party, and if so, which one?
The Girrl
@Jersey Girrl
I am not a member of any political party
I started my student career as a Conservative
I was in the early 80s a member of the SDP
I have advised during this decade the Lib Dem, Labour and Green parties. I have gad dialogue with Welsh and Scottish Nationalists and been consulted by Tories
I consider myself a social democrat
But I thought myself that when a Conservative - one nation Tories are social democrats in all but name
Richard