To channel my anger at the state of the country positively.
Over the years I have seen first-hand in people’s homes what hardship means. Those were better times than now even 1974 when farmers applied for Unemployment Assistance en masse. Some even left animals at marts because they could not feed them.
The present has visited itself on everybody from the middle management level down. There is a serious possibility that social unrest will break out to try to satisfy the sense of injustice prevalent at present.
The finger of blame is pointed at Bankers, Regulators, Government. More galling are the sound bytes from senior politicians that ‘we all partied’. The “we”, is a futile attempt to spread the blame. The government has said that they are ‘sorry for their mistakes’ but has anyone heard these mistakes being specified? The latest byte is there is a ‘consensus’ to blame!
I know little about high finance or economics. My expertise is law. I can do listen to the new boys on the economic block, David McWilliams, Constantin Gurdgiev, Paul Somerville, and even Peter Mathews of FineGael because they make themselves understood to us ordinary people. I would also like to see George Lee un-gagged.
My view is that the main mistake, in the teeth of €4,000,000 advise from Merrill Lynch, was the blanket of protection wrapped around the Bondholders who made ‘errors of judgement in their greed to get to the trough’, made available by Anglo in the first place and followed blindly by the rest.
What can an independent do? Well! This Independent will not pretend to have policies. I do carry the views and fears of people on the ground and can explain them. The main problem is that we are in a economic hole so the escape is not obvious
How I would deal with this is that I would publicly empower the new economists to be heard by guaranteeing them a forum within the Dail. Now everybody knows that Independants get little hearing in the Dail so it would have to be done outside initially. This will be a reform issue would be an issue in this area. Five day weeks could facilitate Independents getting a substantial time slot to publicly put educated views on the record.
I will study the Bills going through the Dail – a deficit at present in most TDs.
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