Krugman: Eating the Irish

[n2doc]

By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: November 25, 2010

What we need now is another Jonathan Swift.

Most people know Swift as the author of “Gulliver’s Travels.” But recent events have me thinking of his 1729 essay “A Modest Proposal,” in which he observed the dire poverty of the Irish, and offered a solution: sell the children as food. “I grant this food will be somewhat dear,” he admitted, but this would make it “very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children.”

O.K., these days it’s not the landlords, it’s the bankers — and they’re just impoverishing the populace, not eating it. But only a satirist — and one with a very savage pen — could do justice to what’s happening to Ireland now.

The Irish story began with a genuine economic miracle. But eventually this gave way to a speculative frenzy driven by runaway banks and real estate developers, all in a cozy relationship with leading politicians. The frenzy was financed with huge borrowing on the part of Irish banks, largely from banks in other European nations.

Then the bubble burst, and those banks faced huge losses. You might have expected those who lent money to the banks to share in the losses. After all, they were consenting adults, and if they failed to understand the risks they were taking that was nobody’s fault but their own. But, no, the Irish government stepped in to guarantee the banks’ debt, turning private losses into public obligations.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/26/opinion/26krugman.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=homepage

[Greyhound]

1. K&Rugman exactly what is being done here except for the scale.

Shifting massive private losses onto the public is the one thing that this Wall Street Administration has worked tirelessly, 24/7 to achieve.
:kick: & R

[Hydra]

2. aka: Insanity

Short term = corporate raiding hits the treasury. Long Term = What long term?

[Greyhound]

4. Yes, they're delaying the inevitable so that the parasites can suck the last drops before

moving on to the next host/victim. I suppose it is inevitable since our government is largely made up of the same parasites.

[Warpy]

5. They're running out of victims here in the west

and somehow I doubt Asia is going to be particularly good about socializing their losses if they move there.

Personally, I think the rallying cry of anybody who wants to get a non Astroturf populist going should be "STEAL IT BACK!"

[ShockediSay]

12. Rip it back

how 'bout ?

[Hydra]

6. As a story in Rolling Stone pointed out

The big predators are running out of targets. Bear and Lehman got eaten out of a sense of "Where's the real meat?"

I'm really not sure where all of this ends. At some point, someone is going to scream, "We don't owe you guys ANYTHING!" And this massive game of Jingo will be over.

Then again, I may be wrong- the game players may just look for new pieces to play with and shift the focus, yet again.

[Greyhound]

8. The low hanging fruit is getting scarce, but the sheer size of the American economy

can still feed them for years, albeit at a lower profit. Also, the U.S. is unique in many respects, not the least of which is the "uniquely American" codification of blatant bribery disguised as political campaigns. This has lead to one of, if not the most corrupt "taxation system" in the first world. Large American corporations enjoy levels of subsidization in combination with protection from prosecution equaled only in such bastions of democracy as Dubai, Indochina, Saudi Arabia, etc.

Once these perks become too troublesome to justify the expense they will walk away, but we're quite not there yet.

[Ozymanithrax]

3. His name is Jon Stewart n/t

[vssmith]

10. Same initials even

[OlympicBrian]

7. At least the US corporations who use Ireland as a tax haven are saved! Yeah!

At least the US corporations who use Ireland as a tax haven have gotten Ireland to stand firm on its low corporate interest rate--while new taxes on the locals will be imposed.

The corporatocracy in action! "corporations >> people" is truly global.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9624014

[Canuckistanian]

9. Privatize the profits and socialize the losses

It's the banks' secret to success these days. Why take a loss on a bad investment when you can soak the poor?

[SoCalDem]

11. What always cracks me up is this

The behaviors exhibited by the banks & mega-corporations is what is criticized by the banks & mega-corporations when individuals do it..