The recession in the EU might be even deeper than the one in the US. Case in point: Ireland, which thrived off now-dormant construction cranes. [Washington Post]
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But… But… But… I thought that Ireland was the shining example of European Free Market capitalism, unsullied by tainted Socialist hands.
(Not really but I recall seeing that in the comments quite often here)
@Trai_Dep: I know, I thought their low corporate tax rate was supposed to be the model for every capitalist, democratic country in the world. How could they let this happen?
Sad to say, I’m not a bit surprised. I’ve been warning friends and relatives back in the ‘aud sod that the level of growth they were experiencing simply couldn’t be sustainable for about 3 years now. What little investment I have over there is all in bank stocks, and is currently worth a hair over 10% of what it was 2 years ago. It’ll pick back up, sure enough, and I’m in no hurry, but it’s still kinda creepy to watch it fall.
Mrs. Theirishscion was quite shocked to see what house prices were like there 2 years ago when we were visiting. 350,000 Euros would buy you a 1100 square foot semi-detached 3 bedroom, 1 bath somewhere in the ‘burbs of Cork City (where I grew up.)
This, mark you, in a country with a median income around 35,000 Euro at the time. That’s just insanity. I just hope for my family’s sake some semblance of sanity can be reestablished before they revert back to the dark ages.
Ummmm, you forget that Ireland is home to the world’s most progressive income taxes, bought to you courtesy of liberals?
[brain-terminal.com]
Ah it makes me smile to refute my wondering aloud in business classes how the world’s lowest corporate income tax would be sustainable. Many of my friends (dual citizens with some EU nation) considered moving to Ireland due to the booming economy there and I warned them not to. Sad to say I was right.
@god_forbids: Erm, sorry, that’s nonsense. One of the least progressive in Europe, actually. Needs to be more progressive; part of the reason we’re so screwed now is that the government didn’t bother with the whole revenue/investment in services thing for a decade or so.
Am I being naieve in thinking that a certain nation, over the pond, is the root cause of this current global crisis?
@shufflemoomin: placing blame at the feet of America does no one any good, we all bear responsibility for the situation we are in at this point.. we will all need to carry the burden to get us back to a better place.. hell.. it’s only money..
@shufflemoomin: To a large extent, yes; certainly in Ireland, a major problem is that a lot of banks hold a lot of bad US debt.