Questions, questions.

The ‘crisis’ has reached a point where we can see the bottom even if we are not there yet. I.e. the scope of it has fully unfurled itself for all to see and be affected by it and to have a chance to analyse it and decide on responses. The emergency phase is past us. The country has been bounced into the biggest financial commitments in its history, taking long term liabilities from 35% of GDP to 350% overnight.
Yes /Mainly yes /Maybe /Not Sure /No

The Govt has had several bites at the cherry and a sufficient amount of time to have come up with its best shot at a plan for repairing the damage/rebuilding the economy.
Yes /Mainly yes /Maybe /Not Sure /No

The main thrust of the plan is

  1. to recapitalise the banks with taxpayer funds that require tax hikes and service cuts to implement.
  2. the worst of the banks excesses are to be purchased at a discount to book value and a premium to market in the hope that they may eventually be sold at a profit. The market premium is required so as to reduce the amount of recapitalisation fund needed. This also has the effect of taking property out of circulation in the hope of avoiding a complete collapse in value as occured in the StockExch (-75%)

Yes /Mainly yes /Maybe /Not Sure /No

The clear alternative to NAMA  & recapitalisation is to let the traditional capitalist mechanism of bankruptcy run its course. The State will preserve its balance sheet and be in a position to buy assets cheaply and restart the economy from a new lower price/cost basis that will restore our competitiveness. The pain will be more intense but shorter. The pain will fall more on the wealthy.
Yes /Mainly yes /Maybe /Not Sure /No

The outcome of the plan will determine the economic welfare of the country for the next 15-25 years, especially if it fails. There is a clear choice on offer.
Yes /Mainly yes /Maybe /Not Sure /No

The plan will take a year to set up and many years to complete.
Yes /Mainly yes /Maybe /Not Sure /No

A general election will take a maximum of 6 weeks to complete.
Yes /Mainly yes /Maybe /Not Sure /No

If the answers nationally were mainly yes wouldn’t it be right to have an election?

Don’t the people have a right to decide on the risks they want to take……or do our political masters really know what is best for us?

1 Comment

mis-adventurerApril 23rd, 2009 at 20:25

I wonder would this ‘crisis’ election be sufficiently traumatic for the political parties/process so as to finally sunder the pathetic post-Civil War alignment of Irish parties into something more akin to the left/right divide that obtains in more ‘developed’ polities……

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