Posts tagged as:

Ireland

Taking to the streets: US vs. European edition

February 16, 2010

in Culture, Society, & Economy

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Excerpt: A rant that started with an Audi ad and meandered through the requisite American distaste for conformism eventually arrived at this. Not that the tin-foil helmet crazies are in anyways more desirable than disenfranchised anarchist mobs taking over government buildings.  And considering the reasons for protests: one for introducing universal health insurance and/or financial sector bailouts, the other against belt-tightening in wages and benefits, I’m not entirely sure the comparison can really be considered parallel. The majority of us hit by economic hardships just want to put our heads down and get on with the whole thing, kind of like, well, Ireland. But…

Danish unions protest against EU’s Greek restructuring plans, what?

February 3, 2010

in Lost in Translation

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Excerpt: Following up on the theme of public finances, when in trouble, Ireland wielded the axe swiftly last year, winning favours in the bond market and already seeing its economy picking up this year. Across the continent, Greek is bankrupt.  So the EU has stepped in to impose some harsh rules to reign in its finances.  The first thing to go is public sector’s wages and other pension-related liabilities. Greeks are protesting, of course. But for some (initially) unfathomable reason, so are Danish unions.  It’s odd not only because it is Greek, not Denmark, that’s been subjected to hiring freezes, wage cap, and in…

Insiders versus outsiders in European job market

February 3, 2010

in Politics & the Economy

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Excerpt: Compassion or cruelty? That is the question raised by the Economist, when assessing Europe’s particularly rigid labour market.  Countries ranging from Italy, Greece, to Spain and Sweden, have been staunch defenders of its labour-market laws and social system. Two problems are raised. One is that the natural desire for social cohesion is being abused to justify the protection of “insiders”—those in permanent jobs, in trade unions or in privileged professions. But the cost of protecting insiders falls largely on “outsiders”—the unemployed and those in temporary work, especially young people and immigrants. Essentially, the call to preserve social cohesion can be abused to protect the…

The recession as experienced by the Irish

January 7, 2010

in Schadenfreude

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Excerpt:

Image via Wikipedia

[/caption] Like other pockets of Europe, Ireland experienced phenomenal growth in the 2000s. Like Iceland for example, both relatively poor before major economic changes took place, soared to unimaginable heights during the boom, and now shot down to earth and licking their wounds. But are the Irish more mentally equipped to deal with the recession, given their not-so-distant memories of poverty and hardship? We have a long and proud history of poverty, I don’t know if that helps. When I was growing up, you never asked another Irish person what they did for a living, and you never…

Who is worse off than you?

March 5, 2009

in Culture, Society, & Economy

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Excerpt: Growing up, whenever I screwed up in a test or assignment in school and had to face my mom, I would always preface my failure by citing more spectacular blow-ups by my classmates. The habit never escaped me.  Now instead of placating my parents, I use it as a self-administered sedative whenever things get bad.  By reminding myself that it could be worse. It’s easy to fall into a depressing spiral these days.  There’s little voyeuristic pleasure in watching your economy on a high speed race heading for the cliff, especially when your savings and investments are wrapped in the vehicle. But…