Ireland grows restless!

The Irish Independent newspaper, here, gives voice this Sunday to the clear nonsense being thrust upon the bailed out nations by the ECB, read here. The following quotes are noteworthy:

But hasty entry into an unfavourable and unimplementable deal is a different matter and the behaviour of the ECB has created resentment in Ireland.
It appears that policy is being dictated to an elected government by a remote and unaccountable financial authority and that the policy is not self-evidently a good one....

The verdict of the sovereign credit markets on all of this is clear and unsurprising. They will not lend a cent to Greece, Ireland or Portugal for the foreseeable future and do not believe that fiscal tightening alone will do the trick. As a consequence, there is no visible exit strategy for these countries.

The absence of a visible exit strategy places their governments in an impossible position. They cannot fashion a credible political message for their electorates, offering a credible probability of success in exchange for more fiscal pain.

It is not politically viable to tell people that further large tax increases are coming, along with more big cuts in expenditure and no bank credit, with no prospect of economic recovery and no end in sight. The 'rescue' package cannot be sold as a kind of economic black hole from which there is no escape.

The additional perception that this formula is being imposed by a central bank that most citizens had never heard of prior to the crisis does not help public acceptability, nor does the incessant sermonising from EU and ECB officials.

The likely result is political instability in these countries, with increasing support for anti-European political parties.

British aid for Ireland's banks

The Irish Finance Minister, quoted by Reuters, linked here, makes quite clear that any British help for Ireland's banks will be an entirely British matter and nothing whatever to do with the EU, giving George Osborne even greater negotiating flexibility in the Ecofin meeting today where he is not bound by previous illegitimate undertakings made by Alistair Darling as mentioned in the posting immediately below. A quote from Reuters:

POSSIBILITY OF UK ASSISTANCE? If Britain wishes to participate, that's a matter for Britain in the event that a package is needed. That's a matter in the first instance for the United Kingdom. I know they see Ireland as one of their best customers and the United Kingdom is anxious to help in every possible way but I don't want to pre-empt their right to make their own decision in a matter of this type.

In general, the UK has not participated in European Union wide assistance, but I know that the British authorities are anxious to ensure that any help that Ireland needs will be given, so again it's a matter for the United Kingdom authorities, it's not a matter for the Irish matters.

But let's be clear, Britain is not in the eurozone , it's in the sterling area, but the eurozone is determined to protect its own financial system and that's very important.

(Blog editor's added emphasis). Cameron and Darling be warned, what you offer to Ireland has to be justified by you yourselves, any amounts offered cannot be blamed on the previous administration.

EU heavies head to Dublin to Slash last Shred of Sovereignty

The following are the concluding paragraphs to the statement issued last night by the Ecofin Eurogroup:

We welcome the determination of the Irish government to engage in a short and focused consultation with the commission, the ECB and the IMF in order to determine the best way to provide any necessary support to address market risks, especially as regard the banking sector, in the context of the four-year budgetary plan and the upcoming budget.

We confirm that we will take determined and co-ordinated action to safeguard the financial stability of the euro area, if needed, and that we have the means available to do so.

Ireland in talks to surrender sovereignty to EU

So farewell to Eire, if Bloomberg TV is to be believed, Ireland is to enter talks removing its need to obtain market financing over the next year or so. RIP Eire 1922 - 2011? Watch statements on the Irish 12.5% Corporation Tax Rate to guage the extent of the defeat! This will not save the Euro currency, read my first posting on this blog of this morning regarding the one sane way forward.

Fannie Mae 30 year bond yield soars skywards!

Is QEII in the USA about to crash and burn? The jump in yield of the mortgage rate setting Fannie Mae 30 year bond seems to indicate things are going badly awry. Read the LA Times item from here. It is the mortgage debt in Ireland that now is the greatest threat to that nation's survival, officially not even being discussed at the Eurozone Ecofin meeting, read what I blogged and linked on that topic last week, from here. The UK is in the same boat as both Ireland and the USA yet the Coalition Government pretends no such worries or even concerns really exist. Oh Really!

Bonds -Irish 10 yr thru 8% and Portugal's thru 7% - Sell Spanish 5 yr says HSBC

The headline of this post has the crux of matters at lunchtime, detail from Bloomberg is here. It seems inconceivable that this chaos can continue. Thank goodness the EU has its Finnish Financial Wizard, Olli Rehn, from Mikkeli on the job in Ireland....... (only taking the Mickie!))

Irish Friends Vote NO for Me

The following links are from the web page with the name above, linked here.

Personal Letters

Here, you can read personal letters from people of EU member states to the people in Ireland.

Nathalie Bélier‐Dewan, Paris, France

Chacques Vazquez, Carcassonne, France

Françoise Jozon, France

Finn Zeigermann (Esbjerg, Denmark)

Rainer Rappmann (Achberg, Deutschland) 5 Universitätsprofessoren, Wien, Österreich

Chantal Wender, Valence, France

Anna Schindler, Vienna, Austria

Jean‐Pierre Avermaete, Antwerp, Belgium