Saturday with Claire Byrne

[MPB]

Nice touch when Claire Byrne said she rang up for a government spokesperson to come on and some dismissive bastard said that the O''Reilly story was gone and that they were moving on..

They will have spokesmen coming out of their ears by monday.

Reillys corruption of his position will not go away and we won,t rest until Reilly goes away.

[PaddyJoe]

In the grand scheme of things it wasn't a great programme anyway. Ringing up Billy Kelleher in Cork for a couple of soundbites and then bringing in a very defensive Jim Power to defend feck all was no kind of improvement.
Somebody needs to listen to Audrey Carville on Late Debate

[C. Flower]

Jesus, but you socialists are thick.

The social welfare bill is rising because of unemployment. The deficit is rising because of unemployment.

The deficit can be narrowed by creating employment.

Unfortunatley, we are run by Public Servants, who are only interested in saving themselves.

Yes unemployment is the main issue (outside the banks debt) in the economy. Universal benefits are for the purpose of providing, permanently, basic social protections and needs (health, education, clean water, child benefit) for the whole population. They are nothing to do with the rate of unemployment or public sector employment terms.

[Baron von Biffo]

The Belfast abortion clinic and the 22 hour ambulance crew shift in Cork.

[Baron von Biffo]

The admission by the IMF that it substantially underestimated the damage caused by cuts also on today.

[PaddyJoe]

Oops, forgot there was a dedicated Saturday with Claire Byrne thread
Jan O'Sullivan, Tony Foley and Matina Stevis on.

[Baron von Biffo]

There's a gathering of economists in Galway. Do we know anyone wants to test some weapons?

[PaddyJoe]

There's a gathering of economists in Galway. Do we know anyone wants to test some weapons?

What's the collective name, I wonder? A gloom of economists?

[Baron von Biffo]

What's the collective name, I wonder? A gloom of economists?

A spoofing of economists?

[Baron von Biffo]

Is Foley trying to detract from the revelations that cuts have a worse impact on economic activity than the IMF had claimed?

[Baron von Biffo]

Who would have though it was possible to make this subject more dull?

[PaddyJoe]

Is Foley trying to detract from the revelations that cuts have a worse impact on economic activity than the IMF had claimed?

A lot of the Irish economists have now had the ground cut out from under them

Speaking at the Dublin Economics Workshop in Galway yesterday, Prof John McHale said: “We certainly will be looking at the IMF findings . . . but the findings don’t seem to be particularly strong . . . in the Irish case . . .We will be looking at it and looking at it carefully, but at this point my sense would be that it mightn’t change our advice.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...325224262.html

[Baron von Biffo]

Ah yes, tax the poor. That'll have us back in the black in a flash.

[Baron von Biffo]

A lot of the Irish economists have now had the ground cut out from under them

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...325224262.html

Economists perceive themselves as scientists and unfortunately that delusion is shared by governments. In reality they're closer to priests, or at best to alchemists.

[PaddyJoe]

Economists perceive themselves as scientists and unfortunately that delusion is shared by governments. In reality they're closer to priests, or at best to alchemists.

This IMF volte face is hugely embarrassing for the proponents of austerity at all costs. Not holding my breath to see people like Donal O'Donovan, McHale, and Alan Ahearn called out on it next time they're on tv or radio though