Budget 2014 – the Socialist approach

With interest rates on Irish bonds hovering around 7%, it is clear that financial markets are increasingly pricing in a high chance of Ireland "going bust". In this article, socialistparty.net traces the prospects for Irish state insolvency, the deepening economic crisis and the consequences for the workers' movement.

The last-minute rescue package put together by eurozone leaders on 21 July has averted an immediate Greek debt crisis. A default by Greece would have triggered a European financial crisis, with world-wide repercussions. The package, however, merely eases the Greek government’s cash-flow problem. It does little or nothing to reduce the unsustainable debt mountain or stimulate economic growth. While the eurozone leaders are heading for the beaches or the mountains, Greek workers continue to labour under the yoke of intolerable austerity measures.

An essential ideological pillar of the attacks on workers and unemployed people over the past number of years is the idea that Ireland is broke.  The impression is given that the wealth created during the Celtic Tiger (where the top 1% of the population gained €75 billion) has simply disappeared.

Despite government spin there is no momentum behind economic growth – austerity is failing working people. The CSO this week released the latest live register figures that showed a marginal drop in unemployment.