Responding to the handing over of €715 million of tax payers money to senior unsecure bondholders Joe Higgins TD said
The economist and documentary maker David Malone estimates that the Anglo bondholders being paid off today by the Irish government have control over combined funds of €20.8 trillion, that is one hundred times Ireland’s GDP in 2008 before the crash!
Is there a more glaring equation that demonstrates the asymmetry of economic relations in the world of today that you can have a transfer of wealth wrung from ordinary people through savage austerity to these ‘masters of the universe’ ?
David Malone goes on to conservatively estimate that Anglo only accounts for one five thousandth part of the total funds managed by bond holders the world over. Yet our Taoiseach and Minister of Finance today would have us believe that the non payment by this state of private debt arising from risky investments in property by these geniuses would set off a global chain reaction that would result in catastrophe for the Irish economy.
What world are these people living in? I see the catastrophic consequences of three years of failed austerity measures with more to come if this government gets it way.
The refusal of the Government to have this handover of money debated and voted upon today in the Dáil is simply a disgrace.
Clare Daly TD commented:
The word ‘masochistic’ springs to mind when I hear the Taoiseach boast of how much punishment the people of this country will take in terms of paying fully the private losses incurred by speculators.
The write down obtained on the Greek debt has rightly put the spotlight on this government and its failure to hold true to its promises to reduce the debt.
The referendum announcement from Athens now puts a new spotlight on the government here. They have no mandate to pay the unsecured bondholders in Anglo. This and the whole EU/IMF austerity strategy should be put to a vote of the people.
The Taoiseach is correct when he lists the terrible cuts in living standards still demanded of the working people and unemployed of Greece despite this write down which is why I hope the people there go all the way in rejecting the bailout deal. Let’s be clear, we say not one cent of private debt should be paid by the ordinary people of Europe.
Non payment by itself is not a solution but it is a start. It has to be supplemented by policies that involve seizing the key wealth and assets in society and investing them in the creation of jobs. This is the only way to lift society out of the crisis.
