Morgan Kelly has a typically upbeat assessment of our current economic woes in this morning’s paper in which he says the crisis will be over by the summer and everything is going to be fine.
Only joking. It’s the fast-track to the soup kitchen for all of us.
Sigh.
Ignore that last post we’re all doomed. Today’s breaking news index page is spectacularly depressing. First Active is being shut down and 750 people will lose their jobs there and in Ulster Bank. Fine Gael’s enterprising Leo Varadkar is warning thousands of other jobs will also go in the financial sector. Talks on how to reduce exchequer spending by €2 billion are continuing but are shrouded in pessimism. The Icelandic government has collapsed (what’s the difference between Iceland and Ireland? A single letter and six months, according to the, er, hilarious, folk who move in Europe’s financial circles). The interestingly named but ultimately disappointing Land of Leather is closing the doors of its four Irish shops for the last time and even cheapy shoe shop Barratts is suffering and is now in administration.
And it’s only fecking Monday. The country’s statues will be on the move again before the end of the week. . .
Today the British government announced a 2.5 per cent VAT cut in an effort to stimulate the economy. The markets loved the move and saw their biggest one-day gain ever.
The perceived wisdom in the US, meanwhile, is that tax increases are a big no no during times of recession.
And in Ireland? Our Brian increased VAT rates and introduced new taxes (sorry, levies) in his budget in an effort to, er, stimulate I suppose, the economy. How’s that working out so far, I wonder?
It’s going to be a long recession.
