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.
By Helen Redwood
“THERE’S NO way of preparing for Christmas, that bonus is actually Christmas”. This reaction from one single parent spells out what the Scrooge-like scrapping of the Christmas bonus will mean for the 1.3 million people previously eligible.
Minister Lenihan’s “justification” that prices are falling won’t compensate for a time of year when everything goes up – prices, fuel bills, pressure to buy presents, costs of travelling to relatives.
The cynical posturing of the Green Party in calling for a January General Election for ´the good of the country´ will not save it from annihilation when the Irish people go to vote.
ON 16 September Fianna Fail’s Brian Lenihan is set to tell the Dail the price he intends to pay for the banks’ toxic loans. The figure is expected to be more than €50 billion. It could be as high as €70 billion.
This is a truly monumental bailout for the banks. The NAMA bailout is likely to be more than ten times the size of the entire “menu” of cuts proposed by An Bord Snip.
