Barry O'Hallorantakes a sideways look at the world of business this week
€1.2 billion
The amount that Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan hopes to raise from the extra Budget levy on our incomes.
€1 billion
The amount that Irish banks will pay the State for the guarantee scheme that will see the taxpayer underwrite €485 billion of their debts.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK 1
"I still haven't head a clearly audible mea culpa"
- German president Horst Kohler on the fact that nobody from the banks has said sorry for the part they played in the global financial crisis. Perhaps they'll say a big thank you to taxpayers for the bailouts
QUOTE OF THE WEEK 2
"Congress's record of regulating executive pay has been unblemished by success"
- Prof Kevin Murphy of the University of Southern California on why bankers are unlikely to have their pay packets and bonuses limited. Brian Lenihan favours capping pay at €500,000 but is leaving the actual decision-making to an independent remuneration committee.
GOOD WEEK
Coca Cola
Proved it is still the real thing by being one of the few companies - anywhere - to generate some good news this week. The Atlanta-based group reported better-than-expected third-quarter profits of $1.9 billion (€1.4 billion), up from $1.65 billion a year ago. A lot of the sales came from emerging markets, where finger-wagging campaigns about obesity and fast food have yet to gain ground.
Gordon Gekko
The anti-hero of Wall Street - the movie - is returning in 2010 in a sequel, Money Never Sleeps. Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, became an icon for the US financial services community, who took his catch-cry, "greed is good", a little too literally. The original's writer, Stanley Weiser, bemoaned this fact this week and pointed out that Gekko ultimately went to jail. If only real life was like the movies . . .
BAD WEEK
Irish taxpayers
Particularly those who earn salaries, have children, drive to work, like to drink wine and smoke.
They are footing the bulk of the €2 billion that Brian Lenihan is hoping to raise to plaster over the cracks in the State's finances.
Very few economists think he will pull it off, so your cash could well be wasted.
The good news is that the global recession is here.
Fred the Shred
Sir Fred Goodwin, the one-time City of London wunderkind whose staff-cutting at Clydesdale and Natwest earned him his nickname, made an undignified exit from the top job at Royal Bank of Scotland this week.
When he left on Tuesday, the bank was trading at 65.07p in London; when he took over in January 2001, its shares were worth 442p.
Still though, it's not all bad; he leaves with a pension worth £579,000 (€745,000) a year.
