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Gloom, anger spreads as European economies teeter

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Saw a bit of the Irish PM Cowan and his finance minister (Linehan?) and their presentation/press conference on tv last night. If I was Irish I would have shot my television.

If the leaders of other countries are equally as stupid, then they, and all of us, are doomed.

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Next at the trough will be Portugal (of course the Portuguese government denies that now, true to the usual pattern). They (i.e Germany) will bail out Portugal too, accompanied by the usual comical claims that bugdet cutting measures will be enforced.

But the next one will be Spain, and that amount will be too much, even for the German economy. That is when the crunch comes and the Euro scheme will have to be dissolved. And good riddance.

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Germany should ditch the Euro.

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WilliB: That is when the crunch comes and the Euro scheme will have to be dissolved. And good riddance.

Why good riddance?

Only Anglo-Saxons and US alike don't want it to work and will do everything they can to make it fail.

The European Union is a good idea and a unified currency also.

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They should all ditch the Euro., not just Germany.

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The Euro is only to blame in that it makes crime easier. The German and other foreign banks poured money into Irish banks in order to bankroll an idiotic property bubble. If Ireland had their own currency that would have boosted the currency and made the scam less "profitable". They then justified the situation with the usual neo-liberal economic gibberish about Celtic Tigers and low corporate tax rates, until the Ponzi collapsed and they got their toads in the Irish government to bail them out.

Now the Irish have to pay back the money because that is how capitalism works. WRONG!!! That is how loan sharking works. In capitalism a secured loan is written down to the value of the collateral. Lending money in excess of the underlying collateral is fraud. Forcing the public to pay the difference is racketeering. As Mick once sang "Hey Angie, ain't it time to say goodbye".

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It seem Europe is becoming a failure once again. Pity.

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its what you get for electing politicians who promise to spend beyond their means.

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tumbledry:

" The European Union is a good idea and a unified currency also. "

The European Union was a good idea until the Brussels bureaucracy took on a life of its own and embarked on the path of creating an undemocratic superstate.

And a unified currency makes sense for a country with one elected government. Not for a group of different countries with very diverse economies. This is not rocket science; many economists predicted exactly this disaster 10 years ago, when the Euro was introduced with great fanfare.

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Only Anglo-Saxons and US alike don't want it to work and will do everything they can to make it fail.

Sounds like somebody wants to be Naomi Klein...

Predicting the Euro's demise is hardly the same as opposing its existence.

The European Union is a good idea and a unified currency also.

Dude, it is imploding before our eyes.

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Greece and Ireland are by no means the biggest hitters in terms of european economies but have alraedy taken up 200bn of the 750 bn euro set aside by the EU for the debt crisis.Imagine what will happen by the time Spain encounters problems?Thats the gloomy bit...anger is from the ordinary Joes expected to pay for someone elses wrecklessness.

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The monetary policy of having a single currency in Europe was a good idea to free European trade and compete as Europe not smaller countries. However its only a good idea when the individual governments arent reckless with their money. Ireland/Greece/Portugal may be in the Euro but cant compete with Germany and France but they spent / didnt save like Germany and France can. I objected to the UK not joining the Euro at the time but now it doesn`t seem like such a bad idea. I wonder if this is what the UK politicians foresaw. As for the comment above about anglo-saxons wanting the Euro to fail, can you enlighten me with your pearls of wisdom on this. BS.

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The bailout of Ireland by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund makes clear that society confronts a disaster if the international banks are allowed to continue their plundering of national treasuries and dismantling of social welfare systems built up over decades. The financial rescue package has exposed the role of every European institution and national government as the servant of a global financial aristocracy. Not a single government, nor a single parliamentary party is either willing or able to check the ever-expanding power of international finance capital. Only a continent wide grassroots movement to expropriate and democratize banksters' empires and redirect those means towards the benefit of the society as a whole can lead us forward from this impasse. Or you can blame Muslims, immigrants, Chinese, N Koreans etc

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Commenting on this process, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung noted: “The financial crisis has come round to where it all started: the banks. And they have grown cheekier. While Lehman had to go bust to prove the need for tax payers to bail out banks, potential crises are now to be ‘preempted’ by EU taxpayers. Thus the banks will not be held liable for the risk—TO COVER WHICH THEY CHARGE ABUNDANT INTEREST—that a calamity will occur and a major debtor will default.”

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This is what socialism leads to: take note America.

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All Europena countries are socialist? I think not. This is what politicians being given unlimited credit leads to.

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Pretty complex stuff. Who owns the debt? Pension funds? Insurance funds? What happens if the investors are forced to take a lose? Will chaos reign and a leader emerge? I hope a good leader does this time around. God knows we need one who is just, wise and compassionate.

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NambanOnigiri: As for the comment above about anglo-saxons wanting the Euro to fail, can you enlighten me with your pearls of wisdom on this. BS.

"your pearls of wisdom" directly the big words :-)

UK has been euroseptic from the beginning because of her particular financial position. About the US, Europe has failed in the short term of being a or the world economic engine in place of the US. The problem we see now is, I hope, because Europe is still in young and countries like the PIGS should be disciplined on fiscal level to be responsible. While Europe has a foot in the tomb, vultures are already waiting for the investment opportunities after a massive stock value devaluation following the death of the euro.

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Tumbledry:

" UK has been euroseptic from the beginning "

Euroseptic... I like that! Alas, not quite so septic. They have had a strong Euro lobby in the country too, but watching the PIIG debacle on the continent now, that has gotten quiet.

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WilliB: I agree. Not blaming anyone else than Europe in principal for this failure.

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"Not blaming anyone else than Europe in principal for this failure."

You're debating with an individual that thinks of Europe as an islamic colony. Heh, 'nuff said.

Explains the gleeful tones from a lot of Americans that haven't quite grasped the subject that we're all in the poop.

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I know many Europeans are predicting doom and gloom, but look at all the poor Romanians, Africans, Chinese, South Americans who are willing to do anything to get into the EU.

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It's doom and gloom not only in the UK, but also in the US and everywhere else. It's a worldwide econmic slump, tghat's what it does.

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This is what socialism leads to: take note America. its what you get for electing politicians who promise to spend beyond their means.

Ireland was a poster child for neo-liberal economic theory. It had one of the world's most "responsible" governments in terms of spending money, because as we all know, all economic problems are caused by governments spending money!!! They are now up the creek because the "bad" government had to rescue the "good" private sector. Socialism and promising to spend may or may not be bad things, but they have nothing to do with what is happening in Ireland.

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WillieB: fully agree. idea about united Europe is good, but very bad realisation of this project

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