Category: Economics
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New car sales figures and other stats
New figures were released today, and they are not pretty. I’ve tabulated all new car sales on file from the CSO, that is since 1965: (The data was gleaned from here) Here is the large version of that image. New car sales are now hovering around what they were at least 15 years ago. I’ve…
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IMF report
Was a statistic on Ireland pulled from the report? Paul Mason says: So maybe there is an interesting explanation of why the original list got made, why it was so much worse for the UK, why Ireland was on it and is now not on it, and why it got pulled. Unfortunately I do not…
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$1 trillion for the IMF
A nice round figure. But where will the money come from? Gold perhaps? Discussion at a summit of G20 world leaders about selling International Monetary Fund gold to raise extra funds refers to sales over and above existing plans, a minister said on Thursday. “What’s referred to here is in addition to what has been…
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Manning the barricades
Courtesy of the Economist Intelligence Unit, an attempt to gauge the instability of countries around the world as the economic recession deepens. The report is available in PDF. Ireland is ranked joint 132nd with the UK on the social unrest index (being the 132nd most unstable), between Singapore and Tunisia. Of course that situation may…
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Asset bubbles explained
Chris Martenson does have detractors, but I like this explanation:
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Anglo Irish Bank nationalised
The Government has finally seen sense and nationalised Anglo Irish Bank. We will have to see how good a job they do of it. The Government has today decided, having consulted with the Board of Anglo Irish Bank Corporation plc (“Anglo”), to take steps that will enable the Bank to be taken into public ownership.…
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Schwarzenegger: A state of emergency
Things are looking bad for California.
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Buying poppies from Afghanis
Interesting to see that the idea is not being entirely discounted. I posted on it a few months back. Vague said analysts had suggested that the United States buy Afghanistan’s illicit drug crops as a way of easing tensions. He says that’s no crazier than the way the United States paid tens of thousands of…
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Lenihan: We didn't notice the downturn
So said that Sunday Independent yesterday. It went on: Mr Lenihan effectively admitted that the Government only became aware of the “decline” two months after he had been appointed Finance Minister. He said: “When we first saw the sign of decline in July …” While I think the headline does not entirely warrant the content,…
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€10 billion Irish bank recapitalisation
Why does it feel like Ireland will be seeking IMF assistance within 12 months? This strikes me as a very cack-handed response… The Government have just put a statement up on the Department of Finance website. Serious stuff. The Government has today decided on an approach to the recapitalisation of credit institutions. The Government’s objective…