The Big Bailout of the Eurozone (Another crisis coming? - Seriously)

[muppet]

The 1500 people who earned over €1m last year (average earnings €2.4m each) contributed, on average, €800,000 each in tax.

That can't be right Hound, that would equate to €1.2T, which would have us on the pig's back.

Yes as said above its billion rather than trillion. Those earning over €200,000 contributed a combined €4 billion to the exchequer in income tax last year.

It raises the interesting question of how much is "a fair share".

I think the figures show that the much maligned rich do contribute a lot in terms of tax revenue, and I'm sure in other ways too, e.g. charity, job creation etc. But its minority tax exiles and immoral cheats who grab all the headlines and get the lot of them thrown in the one bucket.

Not that I'm feeling sorry for them! The can afford to pay more and everyone has to feel some pain. But also need to be careful that they are not totally scapegoated, as by their nature they tend to be more mobile and many could feck off to Malta like Denis O'Brien or similar, which could end up leaving us worse off.

Sorry Hound, I lost my mathematical abilities there yesterday - I hope they come back soon. 

Are you sure you'e not a Lenihan?

[Billys Boots]

I would still have been top-of-the-class in Government yesterday. 

[Bogball XV]

Interesting stats in the Irish Times today.

6% of people earn over €100,000.
Those 6% contribute 40% of the total income tax take.

The 1500 people who earned over €1m last year (average earnings €2.4m each) contributed, on average, €800,000 each in tax.

imo these numbers which have been thrown around with gay abandon by our govt politicians are a red herring, i'm not doubting their accuracy, but what they consistently fail to point out is that in this country only circa 30% of our total tax take is in the form of income tax.  We have amongst the highest proportion in the EU (I think the highest) of our taxes in the form of indirect taxes (mainly consumption taxes), thus whilst it's fair to say that low earners don't pay income tax we can safely assume that they pay their fair share as presumably almost every cent earned is spent, therefore incurring vat at 21.5% and the many excise duties on alcohol and cigarettes.
At this stage I have come round to the idea of lowering the bands somewhat and having the minimum wage taxed to a small extent, but moreso because it will increase the tax take from all rather than from what it will take from the low earners.
I personally have no objections to a vastly increased top rate of tax, I'd be in favour of 50% at least.

[Bogball XV]

Was going to modify my last entry but this really deserves a post of its own

Here is our Minister for Older people  - Marie Hoctor TD on Prime Time last night – She can't even read a prepared script – Lord Jaysus.
Remember she's on €150K a year plus expenses and a car – Beggars belief.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWmnQtZljjw

I honestly have never heard of her - too many td's perhaps and certainly too many ministers.

[Gnevin]

A national campaign was launched on last night's Prime Time to seek people's ideas to stimulate economic recovery and focus on solutions to Ireland's serious economic problems.

Called The Ideas Campaign, this grassroots initiative is targeting the citizens of Ireland and asking them to propose innovative ideas to boost economic activity across key areas such as manufacturing, technology, construction, retail and education. But it's not only about business – the Ideas Campaign also wants ideas for the arts, sport and voluntary and community activity that will enrich this country.

The campaign will run until 31 March and centres on a website – IdeasCampaign.ie – which went live today and which will:

    * Capture citizens' ideas across 19 different categories that are important to the Irish economy
    * Allow them to send messages of support
    * Provide easy-to-understand information about the Irish economy that is directly applicable to their lives

This is a citizens' campaign, owned by people in Ireland. The campaign, and those who get involved, have to be practical and realistic, particularly in the light of the global economic crisis and the serious state of the government's finances.

The Ideas Campaign plans to use the ideas received to deliver an action plan for Government in April with aggressive timelines for execution. An Advisory Group, comprising senior figures with experience in business, academia, economics and the public sector, is advising the campaign team and will have an input into the action plan to ensure that recommendations are both pragmatic and achievable.

The campaign arose from a contribution which businesswoman Aileen O'Toole made to the Prime Time special on the economy on 14 January. She spoke about positive aspects of Irish economic activity and the need to focus on solutions, not problems. This TV appearance met with a huge response which led Aileen O'Toole to establish this campaign less than three weeks ago.

The campaign is independent, non-political and has been modestly funded by Aileen O'Toole's business, AMAS. It is being staffed by highly-qualified individuals who have been made redundant because of the recession and who are being supported by a network of volunteers, as well as AMAS's Directors and staff.

I watched about 5 minutes and it seem like Prime Time where desperately attempting to fill the 15 minutes after the ads 

[Lecale2]

Was going to modify my last entry but this really deserves a post of its own

Here is our Minister for Older people  - Marie Hoctor TD on Prime Time last night – She can't even read a prepared script – Lord Jaysus.
Remember she's on €150K a year plus expenses and a car – Beggars belief.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWmnQtZljjw

I honestly have never heard of her - too many td's perhaps and certainly too many ministers.

Hard to believe that woman is helping to govern the country. 

[muppet]

Was going to modify my last entry but this really deserves a post of its own

Here is our Minister for Older people  - Marie Hoctor TD on Prime Time last night – She can't even read a prepared script – Lord Jaysus.
Remember she's on €150K a year plus expenses and a car – Beggars belief.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWmnQtZljjw

I honestly have never heard of her - too many td's perhaps and certainly too many ministers.

Hard to believe that woman is helping to govern the country. 

She's not helping, just following orders and very badly at that . Mary Harney obviously refused to face the music so the cannon fodder was marched out.

[Rossfan]

And what about Cowan(or was it Lenihan) saying it was only last Tueday they realised things had got so bad in the public finances.

God Help Ireland.

[johnpower]

Was going to modify my last entry but this really deserves a post of its own

Here is our Minister for Older people  - Marie Hoctor TD on Prime Time last night – She can't even read a prepared script – Lord Jaysus.
Remember she's on €150K a year plus expenses and a car – Beggars belief.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWmnQtZljjw

I agree what a pathetic display . The sign that some people really get promoted 20 levels over their level of ability


I have just re-read the "The Generation Game " by David McWilliams  last weekend .He predicted most of it .

[Lecale2]

God save Ireland!

[Farrandeelin]

Was going to modify my last entry but this really deserves a post of its own

Here is our Minister for Older people  - Marie Hoctor TD on Prime Time last night – She can't even read a prepared script – Lord Jaysus.
Remember she's on €150K a year plus expenses and a car – Beggars belief.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWmnQtZljjw

I agree what a pathetic display . The sign that some people really get promoted 20 levels over their level of ability


I have just re-read the "The Generation Game " by David McWilliams  last weekend .He predicted most of it .

Yeah, what a terrible performance by Máire Hoctor. Bloody hell, how the hell did Prime Time let her away with it. I wonder will the Opposition pick up this incident in the Dáil on Tuesday.

[Hound]

EBS results out:

- Pre-tax losses of just over €38m after setting aside €110m to cope with losses from loans (its writing off over 20% of its development finance book over a two-year period).
- They say they are dealing proactively with losses in its commercial loan book, and can now move forward decisively.
- Chairman and Fiinance Director get the bullet.
- No bonuses will be paid to management this year.

Pretty small fish compared to the other Irish banks.
Clearly a poor decision for them to diversify from their main business and dabble in the commercial, and they got burned. Though unlike the other banks there is more accountability and people have paid the price with their jobs.

[muppet]

http://www.rte.ie/business/2009/0312/inflation.html

Deflation, or negative inflation as the Government spin doctors will call it, is officially here.

Figures from the Central Statistics Office show that consumer prices fell by 1.7% in the year to February. This was the second month in a row in which there was negative inflation.

McWilliams wrote about the Deflation Spiral a few weeks ago.

A deflationary spiral is a situation where decreases in price lead to lower production, which in turn leads to lower wages and demand, which leads to further decreases in price. Since reductions in general price level are called deflation, a deflationary spiral is when reductions in price lead to a vicious circle, where a problem exacerbates its own cause. The Great Depression was regarded as a deflationary spiral.

If this kicks off things will get miserable, especially for those with medium to large mortgages. Negative equity would seem likely. The only ones who would do well are probably those sitting on lots of cash with little or no mortgage debt.

And just to cheer us up Cowen says budget will be more severe than predicted

Still let's stay optimistic, it might be Mayo's year!

[Bogball XV]

Still let's stay optimistic, it might be Mayo's year!

God love you for your optimism Muppet

[gerrykeegan]

We took a 10% pay cut in Jan, another one looms, house price falling all the time......I'm from Westmeath! Nothing to look forward to!