Sir, – Our politicians would to do well to familiarise themselves with the word “some”. This useful and inoffensive four-letter word can convert a sweeping statement into a considered opinion. Thus, “some of our young people have emigrated by choice” and “some people went mad borrowing”.
Judicious use of the word “some” would spare us from the endless debates that ensue when it is not applied.
Have some sense please. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I’m now going mad not spending money I don’t have. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Like your Editorial (Shock! Horror! Kenny tells truth, January 28th) I believe that what the Taoiseach said in Davos was true. While it can be argued that his comments should have been more specific, he was right to make them.
However, I believe that he did make a mistake when he said, during his address to the nation, that we, the people, were not responsible for current economic and financial crises. While well intentioned, it was incorrect. This created a hostage to fortune and gave oxygen to various pressure groups, such as those opposed to the household charge and the regulation of septic tanks. It may also have made the passing of a possible referendum on the European fiscal compact more difficult.
In a democracy such as ours, where elections are by secret ballot, we the people, have a collective responsibility for the governments that get elected. For example, it could be argued that in the 2007 general election we elected the wrong government.
Therefore, it is advisable that our political leaders avoid telling us that we have no responsibility for a national crises. Particularly where the government or its agencies have some involvement. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Quoting from your Editorial (January 28th) “Borrowers have responsibility too”. So too have lenders. All we want is burden-sharing. Yes, “it takes two to tango”. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Your Editorial writer (Shock! Horror! Kenny tells truth,January 28th) concludes by quoting, partly, the German ambassador Dr Eckhart Lübkemeier, “ ‘it takes two to tango’. Borrowers have a moral responsibility too.” Indeed they do.
But, isn’t the fundamental point at issue in all this sorry mess one of a lack of shared accountability? For reasons of political expediency (elections in France and Germany) the periphery is paying more and, more importantly, being seen to pay more than its fair share. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – In response to our Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s gaffe in Davos. It would be better for our leaders to say at these international talk-shop events – albeit in a more subtle way – that the Irish people are mad because they pay higher taxes in order that German and French banks can protect their own profits from any fallout due to their decisions to provide extra finance to the Irish commercial banks in an obviously overheated economy during the so-called Celtic Tiger years. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The difficulty with the Taoiseach’s recent comments that people went mad is that they display a fundamental lack of understanding as to why unsustainable levels of personal borrowing occurred in Ireland.
Irish bank lending to personal customers grew from 60 per cent of GNP in 1997 to an unsustainable and indeed “mad” level of 200 per cent of GNP by 2008. The corresponding average increase across the euro zone was only from 80 per cent to 100 per cent.
So why did Ireland experience such a dramatic and unsustainable increase while the rest of the euro zone largely escaped? The answer is simple. While other countries maintained tight regulation of banking and lending practices, our government and political establishment went “mad” and abandoned effective regulation. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – May I ask those who have voiced their indignation at the Taoiseach’s comments on “mad borrowing”, if the borrowing that was indulged in by some, was not mad, what on earth was it? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Enda Kenny stated that Irish people went mad borrowing during the Celtic Tiger. Where does this leave the 23 per cent of households that had no current account, and the 10 per cent of individuals who had no bank account, in 2005? According to Combat Poverty Ireland, this country has the fourth highest level of financial exclusion (12 per cent), which is substantially higher than the EU-15 average (7 per cent). – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Before we become convulsed about what the Taoiseach said in Davos, can we look at just a few statistical facts.
Comparing the years 2001 and 2007, credit card debt rose by 97 per cent, private sector credit by 191 per cent, the number of cars over 2400cc registered for the first time by 141 per cent and holiday trips abroad by Irish residents by 112 per cent. Aggregate balance sheets of credit institutions rose by 217 per cent. In the same period, inflation was just under 24 per cent and population growth 11 per cent.
All this rhetoric and political recrimination does absolutely nothing for the 440,000 people unemployed. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – What Enda Kenny said in that now infamous interview in Davos was: “What happened in our country was that people simply went mad borrowing. The extent of personal credit, personal wealth created on credit was done between people, banks, a system that spawned greed to a point where this went out of control completely with the spectacular crash that you mentioned.” If we deconstruct this statement, we can find out what he actually meant. Thus, he initially referred to “people”, not “the people” as several commentators and opposition politicians have misquoted. His reference to “personal wealth created on credit” clearly indicates that the people in question were developers and financiers. It is undeniable that these people “simply went mad borrowing”. It is also undeniable that they were spurred on by “a system that spawned greed” and that that system “went out of control completely”, resulting in the “spectacular crash” with which we are all painfully familiar.
This analysis of what Mr Kenny actually said shows that in no way was he blaming “the people”. Unfortunately for him, his blunder provided his critics with a golden opportunity to misquote and misrepresent what he actually said. Not surprisingly, they have jumped at it. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – As a corrective to Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s remarks that “people went mad borrowing” during the boom, may I suggest the following: “banks went mad lending”, and that this “mad lending” was made possible by monetary union, and that this “mad lending” was done by highly qualified bankers who are trained to assess risk and to make profit for their companies. Generally speaking, the ordinary person looking for a loan seeks the advice of the professional banker to guide their decision in relation to borrowing – not the other way around, whatever Mr Kenny’s remarks may suggest.
Oh but that the Taoiseach would for once have the courage to tell our ECB/EU overlords what they don’t want to hear – that this crisis is born of private bank debt due to poor lending practices at an institutional level throughout the European financial sector, and that it is wholly unjust for the Irish taxpayer to be made the scapegoat of the ensuing financial crisis – rather than towing the line in portraying the Irish people as reckless hedonists who were makers of their own demise. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I wonder did An Taoiseach mix his words up when he said “people went mad borrowing”? Did he mean to say that the “banks went mad lending”? The banks aggressively pushed loans to their customers during the boom as the politicians encouraged the people to celebrate the indestructible Tiger economy.
If we, the people, are to blame for anything it is that we entrusted our future with our politicians and bankers. We’d be “mad” to ever do so again. – Yours, etc,