Enda Kenny just rang the opening bell on the New York stock exchange. He spoke for many of us I feel – indeed, for his whole country – when he uttered the immortal words “Me love you long time, five dollah”.
OK, possibly not his exact phrasing, but we won’t quibble over details. The gist of his appearance was that the country has invested in a new tub of lube and we’re ready once more to give the markets what they want. What did we learn from our recent, unhappy affair with global capital? That we’re a bottom, it seems. Not a lot else.
The Taoiseach is there to assert that we’ve put our financial house in order. Pretty much. Well, it’s still in a subsidence zone, but compared to some neighbouring houses it’s very very well propped up. That’s all fine, but what about Wall Street’s house? Foolish borrowing and mismanagement of the euro were factors, but it was the unstoppable flood of credit that washed away the foundations and caused the entire economy to slide into the sea. And that all began with the wilful pretence that bad debt could be magically turned into a good investment – basically, a confidence trick.
Shouldn’t it be Wall Street ringing the bell?
Related articles
- Private Profit, Public Punishment (i.doubt.it)
- “Enda sounded like Fr Ted trying to explain to a baffled Fr Dougal the difference between “small” and “far away”.” (sluggerotoole.com)
- TRENDING: Obama raises a pint (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)
- Kenny blaming Irish people for crisis(Yes, No) (teddyoshea.wordpress.com)