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Petrol Bombs
Gardaí investigating three petrol bomb attacks overnight in Drogheda
The attacks come after two houses were attacked with petrol bombs in Drogheda the previous night.
10.29am, 28 Apr 2019
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GARDAÍ ARE INVESTIGATING three petrol bomb incidents in Drogheda overnight.
The first incident happened at around 12.15am at St Laurence’s Park.
A suspected device was discovered at a house, where the front window and front living room were damaged. No one was in the house at the time of the incident.
The second incident happened at Scarlett Crescent shortly after 1am. A suspected device was thrown through a window of a home. No one sustained injuries in the attack.
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The final incident happened at Loughboy, Mell at 4am. Fire Brigade attended the scene and no one was injured.
It is understood that petrol bombs were involved in all these incidents.
Last night’s attacks come after two houses were attacked with petrol bombs in Drogheda the previous night.
Those attacks came less than 48 hours after a gunman opened fire and sprayed bullets at a house hitting a man three times.
Investigations are ongoing.
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On whay grounds is he not our friend? He understands far more than JC Trichet and has prioritised unemployment, particularly youth unemployment as the greatest issue in the Euro zone. It’s almost as if you only read thejournal.ie
“Draghi is no friend of Ireland” is the wrong way to characterise the Euro zone mess, and merely repeats the mainstream narrative intended to disguise what is really going on.
It is not about ‘National’ interests, rather Draghi is a friend of the banks and other Capital owning elites that have also bought political, senior public service, economics and media institutions that are supposed to act in the interests of democracy & the majority of ordinary citizens. The do not.
Draghi is no friend of ordinary citizens everywhere, not just Ireland, and the design of the Euro system itself mirrors the same Capital elites’ interests at the expense of labour everywhere.
There are plenty of non-mainstream macro economics academics who stated precisely what would happen in the Euro system, as designed. Notably the Post Keynesian schools and MMT in particular. They have been proved right, but are still ignored by the mainstream because the elites are still looking after their own interests, not those of the ‘real’ productive economy of the majority (90%+) of ordinary citizens.
Damien himself falls into the trap of the elites fairy tale narrative of banking and money purely designed to favour their narrow interests.
Banks do not need either deposits or ‘reserves’ in order to lend to customers. They create the money out of thin air. Loans create deposits, not the other way round, as recently publicly admitted by the Bank of England and repeated in a recent speech by Lord Adair Turner, career central banker and former head of the UK Financial Services Authority. Just, in fact as Post Keynesians (and MMT) have always stated, and the mainstream economists have denied and still do.
But central bankers like Draghi know perfectly well how it works and why banks choose to lend, or not. QE is both a charade for the elites’ interests and a gift to banks. Arguably any effect in the real economy is if anything negative, as the extra liquidity is used in their rigged Casino or to bid up asset and commodity prices.
So, what citizens need to realise is that the Euro zone is designed to work for elites at the expense & impoverishment – wage & income deflation – of ordinary citizens, through the inevitable and built-in mechanism of mass unemployment.
There is no sign whatever of Ireland’s or anyone else’s mainstream economists, far less politicians, showing any interest in the serious reform needed for the Euro mess to actually work for citizens.
Just as commercial banks create money from thin air as debt, central banks can and should create debt free money (in very modest amounts) for certain fiscal stimulus purposes as and when required, to maintain stability and (near) full employment & use of productive capacity in the real economy.
Modern ‘fiat’ money is +not+ a commodity, or ‘scarce’, in any significant sense, at the +macro+ economy level. It works totally differently to the ‘household’ money of currency +users+, not +issuers+.
The system of using Central Bank created money issuance thru’ the fiscal channel, and the counterbalancing removal of it thru’ taxation, acting as counter-cyclical stabilisation is not new. It was termed ‘Functional Finance’ decades ago by economist Abba Lerner. It is the use of money to serve the real economy of the majority, not the opposite way round that we have now.
Right now, with mass unemployment and deflation, the real economy needs more spending and money to do it. It is that simple. The banking system acts only ever +pro-cyclically+ as does the private sector – always.
The only entity that can act counter cyclically is the Public sector of Governments and their Central Banks. This is the primary macro economy stabilising function that Neo Liberal economics ideology has sought to remove because this ideology – fundamentally anti democratic – does not want Government to have any role at all in the interests of ordinary citizens. It has captured, at no small cost to billionaires and bankers, over decades, the entire mainstream of economics academe, politics and media.
The Euro system, and it’s ongoing mass unemployment and deflation are the logical conclusion of its designed continuously increasing transfer of wealth fro ordinary citizens to the top few percent.
But note, since Damien has introduced the completely different circumstances and stupid example of ‘Weimar’ money printing, where many +multiples+ of annual GDP were printed, the ‘Functional Finance’ system I’m talking about here will only require a mere FEW PERCENT of GDP in new stimulus money issuance. Even starting from the mess we have now, which would never get even half as bad were we always operating it.
The best use in my opinion of stabilising money issuance would be for a European wide (strictly voluntary, minimum wage, non-competing) Job Guarantee (JG). Offering a community/charity sector ‘transition’ job to any and all who want it, providing an income level ‘floor’ and an automatic counter-cyclical stabiliser to the real economy. Helping to maintain overall spending during private sector downturns, and ensuring JG workers move back into ‘normal’ jobs to earn higher than minimum income when the sector upturns.
Within the Euro zone, such a system can be made ‘fair’ on a nation per capita basis by using balancing money issuance payments to pay off Governments’ borrowing, as required.
In due course, a counter balancing central taxation mechanism will be needed to ensure money can be removed as required to avoid inflation that would result from spending beyond the productive capacity of the economy to supply goods and services, whilst maintaining (near) full employment.
Surely the question isn’t “What are you going to give us in exchange for losing all say in how we are governed?” but rather “Why and under what authority are you systematically stripping hundreds of millions of Europeans of their right to choose who runs their political system?”
The Irish obsession with property fuelled by previous plentiful cheap credit released by the euro has been our perdition.
Now we face deflation, massive public and private debt and the legacy of insolvent banks. These consequences flow from failed prudential supervision of the Irish banks and the failure to control the supply of credit in the public interest.
Externally, Kiberd is right. We are now inflicted with all of the disadvantages of the euro but no system of centralised support.
Our public debt level continues to increase and deflation makes it impossible to shift.
The euro has left our economy and our society as a basket case. Greedy banks and a restrictive ECB have done for our economy.
This is neither a country for old people nor for young people. It won’t stop the politicians celebrating 1916 and boasting how they lived up to the ideals of 1916.
Fiscal policy was never in the public interest. Its been in the interest of the banks, bondholders, the Euro and government ministers. But never in the interests of the public at large.
Exactly so, it was designed that way by a political ideology that has sought to deny what Governments can and should do in the majority citizens’ interests. See my comment above.
This is not democracy, rather Plutocracy, leading inevitably, if unchecked to a Neo Feudal system where the top few own everything (for rent) and the rest are virtual slaves, with no rights and own nothing.
IMO, as long as we allow purported representatives of the the majority (labour) public to become significant owners of Capital – enough to live off that Capital – then those representatives will continue to act in the interests of the top few percent and lie to us (and often themselves) that they actually act in the interests of the majority.
The Euro zone system is itself a +symptom+ of an ideology, a logical construction of very narrow financial interests.
Tracey I agree with you ,yet our people were petrified to vote against the German invention Fiscal Treaty,we must have another referendum on this Treaty ,after all this seems to be the three sellout parties mantra
Is no one else sick of all this Europe crap?? Is there not one politician with the balls to tell them to feck off
If this was going on 100 years ago there’d be an uprising and Enda an his gang would be hung for crimes against the state
I think part of this whole problem when we changed to the euro was that people were under the illusion they now somehow had more money £350 was €444 or similar it was like as if you had been given a raise but prices rose to match
Petrol pre euro was around 69 pence a litre thats around 88c per litre and we are now 1.49-1.54 a litre thats almost double the price its ridiculous !
Complaints that we are now low in available houses again will see more being built in big towns and cities to accomodate yet we have a high number of europeans living here if they were to up sticks and leave what sort of a mess would we be in
Germany cares about German elites’ interests, just like our bunch here.
Since the introduction of the Euro, Germany has systematically reduced its own wages and working conditions. They are doing better relative to us, but far worse compared to 15 to 20 years. (See ‘Hartz Reforms’ etc)
But when it comes to the elites (Capital owners) everywhere, their wealth and income has continued upward, even thru’ the financial crisis and ongoing recession.
They took what was valuable then, and still is, our waters and fisheries, they have been taking our gas from Kinsale for the last 30 years, they are going to take our gas from Corrib, they want our wind, oil, forrests, etc, we won’t build nuclear for some reason, they eat our food, drink our drink, how can they afford all this, easy, convince us that we owe them something, get it for nothing. Too fecking stupid, 800 years looking at the English employ their divide and conquer tactics and what have we learned ? The next generation of politicians can’t come quick enough
Very informative Damien excellent but again like the lemming people and race we are unless we were being prodded by an English stick we do Nade. Wtf do we do here?
It’s so frustrating I knew this was the third coming of the Reich!
The Euro experiment has failed, and with QE will eventually come it’s death, and that will be painful. The ECB is charged with steering the macro economics of Europe, our miniscule and fragile economy will barely factor in their considerations. In much the same way the super low ECB driven interest rates intended to boost struggling ecomonies of mainland Europe drove our property boom into orbit. At that time our economy needed higher rates to cool the market, but….well…. we all no what the but is …..
Tabloid economics at its finest… While the eurozone may have gone through a rough start, to suggest wed be better off on our own with the punt is pretty ridic. The benefits of eurozone integration is a functioning currency area with a unified monetary and fiscal policy aims and agreater degree of labour market flexibility, meaning better growth and higher employment, I think thats a fair pay off? (Also the reports of 50 percent youth unemployment figures are generally inflated, there would be mass riots if half of all people in their 20s were unemployed…)
Rough start is a bit of an understatement.
We don’t control our own currency and the Nordic countries, Iceland, along with the UK are benefiting right now.
We are isolated from Central Europe. The European project doesn’t suit us.
There is nothing unified about the euro currency. It suits Germany and France and that’s it.
Economies are and workforces are different, therefore a single currency is a mismatch.
What about all the infrastructure built with eu funds? I assume that has had no influence on the growth of our economy? And strangely enough, we still would have had a recession if we were outside the eurozone. Letting the banks fail was never an option in the Irish case (our banking sector represents a far larger proportion of our ecwonomy compared to iceland) so we would be in a similar debt hole either way, except it would be us on our own trying to stimulate our economy… I’m not that pro euro but I think everyone is suffering from a case of the grass is greener on this one!
EU refused Irish entry to Europe 2 times, then on 3rd occasion requested we sign over 80% of our fishery waters to them. Our most valuable resource, as concession, they agreed to pay non viable farms grants every yr to keep us quiet, build our roads etc Fact, Ireland has the most resourced fish waters in World, that could sustain our economy !!! Fact German Irish Times highlighted this asked why we allow the EU to rape our waters, crush our fisheries with quotas. Congo of EU, wake up !!! Now they come for our Forests Etc .., Yes EU good for us !!!
ECB ‘troika’ are the Paymasters, we pay taxes to them, Kenny is a minion who collects for ECB, if he goes to them with he’s cap in hand saying he can’t collect anymore tax he’s told, ‘ charge for water or air and tax homes’. I’m already planning for the window and chimney tax.
It’s no accident we are where we are, ECB intentionally fueled a bubble so it would pop (I mean soft landing) now they have the PIIGS where they want us, by the short and curleys.
Well they did what the Nazi couldn’t do and without firing a shot.
I wonder why the Brits didn’t even consider the euro. We as Irish have a lot to learn.
Who needs the f**king EU ? Our Country/State or State of Germany (whatever you call it) was going well from the last few months that made Noonan not happy who is now ready to sharpen his knives for more cuts and keep us dancing in the Austerity. A damn puppet !
Again who needs the bleeding EU ? We can’t speak there language where they can speak ours !
Interesting analysis Damien, however, your suggested solution, contained in the final paragraph, would require that final step which will never happen – central EU control and setting of member states tax rates and public spending levels
Until the final paragraph, the article deals only with the economics of the euro-zone. This is only one aspect of the European Union. If there is to be a ‘United States of Europe’, then we must also consider the wider political and societal aspects. Has the EU been a successful economic project? Perhaps not. Has it been a successful political and social project? Many would argue it has.
So unless he agrees with Thatcher that there is no such thing as society, perhaps the author needs to take a more holistic look at the EU and its true benefits for Ireland and the wider European community.
The German worker would require a very large weekly payslip (possibly A 3 size) if European Commission / Aka Germany was to ever fully implement economics of Federalism for the benefit of peripheral countries in EU.
See 2nd para of last Section of Damien’s article.
Noonan should ask Angela if this is the cause of delay on the subject. Maybe increased stationery cost has not been factored into her 2014 budget?
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