Every now and again an article pops up on the internet that makes you do a double take. I came across this one today: ‘If Ireland is as bad as it gets, there’s no need to worry.’ My first thought is, ‘you’ve got to be joking!’ I doubt there are few people in Ireland, well at least those without their heads buried in the sand hoping the dire situation somehow miraculously goes away, who are not scared witless about the country’s perilous situation. There’s a reason why people are talking about the IMF coming in and ideas such as a National Government are being floated about. And this is an article about the financial sector in Ireland.
But perspective is everything. From the viewpoint of those working in the finance sector, things are not great, but not completely dire apparently. It seems that the finance sector is holding up remarkably well on the employment front, for now at least. Staff might be demoralised and their pay frozen, but the sector has not been totally decimated by job losses and some sub-sectors has been growing again. The Irish financial sector appears diverse enough to weather the storm, with a range of companies in the IFSC compensating for a weakened domestic banking sector. From that perspective, it ain’t too bad apparently; money making the world go around and all that. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that the sector’s holding up (and hopefully now properly regulated). The rest of us, I suspect, are still scared witless.
Rob Kitchin
Ireland after NAMA 
October 13, 2010 at 2:28 am
I agree with you, sadly. There is a small chance that the money machine, fiat money banks, shadow banks, will keep going in certain areas, but it is more likely than not to cause more problems than solutions. For example, the need for returns will drive up certain areas such as food and hard commodities, costing the rest of us more of our scarce capital. The bubble continuing will mean poor interest rates for savers and deleveraging for everyone else. The ease of credit is the disease, the loss of it seems catastrophic, but if somehow, some bubble remains, then theoretically, enormous speculation is still possible. The role top be played by the IFSC is unknown in this but may be significant. Profits booked at low rates of tax could distort the “free markets” even more than at the moment? If it occurs, then stopping it will require rigging or attacks on those markets by capital rich entities….. or else they join in!
October 13, 2010 at 6:33 am
@Rob
The existence of this web-site is clear evidence that not everyone is scared witless. You and the others who set up this site (and other similar sites) are part of what I consider is best described in the words of the French aviator and writer
“Dans la vie, il n’y a pas des solutions.
Il n’y a que des forces en marche.
Il s’agit de les creer
Et les solutions suivent.” ***
Long may you continue working away, using your wits to throw light on our currrent situation and suggest new ways of doing things.
I am convinced that this will continue as we work our way out of this self-induced crisis. Events will mean that we will not go back to the old ways of doing things here.
There are also many other people working away in sectors other than finance and many others willing to take up the challenges that we now face. The most high-profile examples are Patrick Honohan and Matthew Elderfield – both outsiders in terms of the usual patterns that prevailed in the appointments historically made to those positions.
***(For those who prefer an English version of this, Google’s translator does a reasonable job of conveying the flow and nuance)
October 13, 2010 at 8:04 am
Donal, nice quote, and thanks for the vote of confidence. You’re right, I’m not quite scared witless, though I do seem to spend a lot of time shaking my head and talking animatedly at the TV (yesterday at an unhearing Tom Parlon). I agree that there are a lot of people now contributing to debates. I remain less convinced that we’ll move away from the old ways of doing things. We need a root and branch clean out of cronyism and clientelism and systems of good governance implemented at all levels. Until that happens, the system will just replicate itself in new guises.
October 13, 2010 at 11:46 am
[…] uneven development | Leave a Comment As pointed out in a previous post yesterday, “the Irish financial sector appears diverse enough to weather the storm, with a range of companies in….” The financial sector in Ireland looks like it’s not doing as bad as we thought, and, there […]
October 13, 2010 at 7:46 pm
Of course things are not that bad, particularly if you have been bailed out! Using the (already said it, but let’s not forget) bailed out finance sector as a proxy for economy and society in general is like looking at looking at my garage to produce a traffic report about the M50. Unfortunately, a lot of people are and will be maintaining some of our not-to-bad finance friends with their taxes and ultimately with their jobs.