Economy

The Greek bailout 2.0 has averted a default, for the moment. The new fiscal pact is a straitjacket that will aggravate Europe’s austerity-induced recession. Ireland’s referendum threatens to shake the EU and the eurozone. There is growing discord among EU leaders. Far from over, workers’ struggles against capitalist austerity will erupt on an even bigger scale.

Much debate has arisen recently on the promissory notes debacle and its impact on the economy.  The issue seems to be clouded in mystery and many people may have shied away from it believing it to be yet another complex financial problem. The reality is that such discussions are generally made to seem difficult to grasp by the establishment and its media, to cover-up the story’s scandalous nature. This is exactly what is happening with the promissory notes.

The Eurozone is at a tipping point. EU leaders are in disarray and have no clear strategy for resolving the crisis. Fragmentation of the Eurozone could trigger another deep financial crisis and global economic downturn. socialistparty.net analyses the crisis.

Albert Einstein once defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results each time. In the last three years successive budgets have resulted in €20 billion being taken out of the Irish economy through austerity and have drastically worsened the present economic crisis.

Back in February, Enda Kenny said that if elected to government Fine Gael wouldn’t put “another cent” of taxpayers’ money into Anglo Irish Bank. Kenny also said “The junior, and senior, and non-guaranteed bondholders are going to have to pay the price”.   These populist statements and promises were cynically made during an election campaign simply to get votes. Now that he is Taoiseach, Enda Kenny has done another u-turn and is handing over not just a few cent to pay off Anglo’s debts – his government is handing over billions!

Socialist Party councillor Mick Barry this morning said that the Government's plans to hand over 715 million euro tomorrow for unsecured unguaranteed Anglo Irish Bank bonds represents a betrayal of ordinary Irish taxpayers.

After a year and a half, the Greek debt crisis is far from resolved. In fact, with Greece on the verge of a social explosion, a default and exit from the euro appears almost inevitable. The eurozone is threatened by an interlocking sovereign debt and banking crisis, compounded by near-zero growth. Capitalist leaders are in complete disarray. Competing national interests are a barrier to cooperative measures. socialistparty.net analyses the latest twists and turns of the eurozone crisis.

A spectre haunts Europe – the spectre of a default by Greece, Greece's subsequent exit from the eurozone and a break up of the eurozone. All the signs – economically and politically – are that key sections of the European establishment are increasingly coming to the realisation that this is now a real possibility.

Right now in Ireland one in eight mortgages are in trouble. This represents 95,158 households which are in arrears or have already had their debt restructured. Of these mortgages in arrears 72% have been behind in payments for more than six months and of these the average amount owed is €21,000. For people owing so much, repayment looks impossible without a major transformation in personal circumstance.