On Ireland’s double dip depression and other links
Topic of the Day: Ireland
- Ireland’s austerity measures show us how not to do it | Business | The Guardian
- BBC News – Irish economy contracts by 1.2%
- Stat of the Day: Ireland now fifth for highest government default probabilities in the world | Credit Writedowns
When looking at the horrible news coming out of Ireland, these comment from a June post came to mind:
I have come to see the fiscal prudence angle as inevitable. I came to this conclusion in October. People have tired of all of the bailouts and sucking up to special interests. If the economy is still weak in the US and Europe, people want to know everyone is sharing the burden. Hence, the desire to impose fiscal discipline.
Just to be clear, austerity decreases demand, decreases employment and decreases GDP. It increases the potential for recession. And with massive debt levels and financial sector interconnectedness, the potential for a serious downturn is great…
For most of the last year and a half since Lehman collapsed, I have been hoping this view was wrong. Specifically, I had hoped that beggar thy neighbour, economic nationalism and protectionism would not re-visit us. However, my early view is being increasingly validated by events. It’s clear to me that I have the psychology of depression economics right and that makes a relapse into depression probable.
Given the talk about trade sanctions in the U.S., austerity in the U.K, and the Sino-Japanese diplomatic row, you can’t view what’s happening in Ireland in isolation. Will the double dip in Ireland put people off harsh austerity? I doubt it: GOP ‘Pledge to America’ to call for U.S. spending freeze
A few CGI links
The Usual Fare
- BBC News – US existing home sales rise 7.6% in August
- BBC News – Blockbuster files for bankruptcy in US
- Close Yes, Comfy No for Sino-U.S. Trade Ties _English_Caixin
- Why We Don’t Need to Pay Down the National Debt – James Galbraith – Business – The Atlantic
- Big Yuan Rise Would Mean Bankruptcies: Chinese Premier – CNBC
- Senate Forecast: Republican Takeover Chances Improved, but Democrats Are Building Pacific Firewall – NYTimes.com
- Economist’s View: "The Awesome Stupidity of Replacing Larry Summers with a CEO"
- Microsoft sells debt at record U.S. low rate | Reuters
- Seven More Years of Hard Times? – Project Syndicate
- BBC News – Vatican Bank ‘investigated over money-laundering’
Germany
- Forsa-Zahlen: Grüne holen in Umfrage erstmals SPD ein – SPIEGEL ONLINE – Nachrichten – Politik
- Reales Plus: Löhne in Deutschland steigen kräftig – SPIEGEL ONLINE – Nachrichten – Wirtschaft
Just for Fun
- How and Why Chrome Is Overtaking Firefox Among Power Users
- Battle of the Android Music Players: The Best Alternative Players Compared
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