Bloomberg: Irish Bankers Remain Target for Politicians Before Election

B

Black_Adder

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...n-easy-target-for-politicians-before-election

The instincts of a number of folk here (Mr Burgess in particular) appear to be on the money as regards this being a political issue for the election.

There is a sting in the tail of the article - the author opines that it is bluster on the part of politicians and that .. nothing will actually happen.

This unfortunately, is close to my view for a number of reasons:
1. The paradox of bank profitability is by increasing Net Interest Margin - up go loan rates - down go deposit rates
2. Richie Boucher thinks the consumers are dopes (we are as we don't do protest)
3. There is nothing to fear from any meaningful competition as what we need is a massive new entrant or a mutual Building Society (remember them)
4. The Central Bank main focus is keeping Banks strong (see Point 1)
5. The politicians are happy that the Credit Unions have an interest cap but it is impossible apparently for bigger boys. (The solution is competition not price rules)
6. Politicians are likely to be exposed on large loans which explains the lack of coherence from them. (Note to B Burgess - seek declaration of borrowings)
 
Thanks Adder

It has not become an issue as far as I can see. I have rarely heard it mentioned. Even in discussions on housing.

I don't get the bit about large loans? Surely if enough politicians had large mortgages on variable mortgage rates, they would be motivated to do something about it?

Brendan
 
Fear Mr Burgess, Fear. One thing about financial distress and TDs is fear of bankruptcy and losing seat.
 
Black_Adder said:
Fear Mr Burgess, Fear. One thing about financial distress and TDs is fear of bankruptcy and losing seat.
Click to expand...

Is your thesis that politicians with large mortgages are motivated not to take any steps that would reduce the interest rate payable on those mortgages for fear that their lenders would move against them if they lost their seats/income?

Agree with the gist of the points made in the article.
 
How else Mr Sarenco can you reconcile the avoidance of jumping on a political bandwagon which should be popular with voters - unless of course the challenged middle class are so ashamed of the predicament that they are in financially that with their stress they don't see -yet - that the banks are extracting a substantial 'double Irish' at their expense. Perhaps it is that the grass roots which politicians thrive on is not scented with the middle class tears combined with the politicians own exposure financially.
 

Sarenco said:
Sorry, I've absolutely no idea what you're talking about.
Click to expand...

I hate crosswords, but I will try to translate this into English. Any helpful suggestions are welcome.

"How ..can you reconcile the avoidance of jumping on a political bandwagon which should be popular with voters "

Why are candidates not supporting this popular cause

"unless of course the challenged middle class are so ashamed of the predicament that they are in financially"

Maybe it's because those members of the middle class who are paying too much on their mortgages are ashamed to talk about it as they are not used to being in financial distress

"they don't see -yet - that the banks are extracting a substantial 'double Irish' at their expense."

I think that this is a clever use of the tax term double Irish to refer to the fact that interest rates in Ireland are twice the rate in the eurozone, so roughly

"the borrowers don't know that they are paying high mortgage rates"

"Perhaps it is that the grass roots which politicians thrive on is not scented with the middle class tears combined with the politicians own exposure financially."

This is probably the toughest. I think that it means that the people who vote [grass roots] don't care about the problems of middle class borrowers [combined with] the fact that politicians themselves have large mortgages.
 
So, taking it all together it goes something like


Why are candidates not supporting this popular cause?

Maybe it's because those members of the middle class who are paying too much on their mortgages are ashamed to talk about it as they are not used to being in financial distress

and this shame prevents the borrowers from knowing that they are paying mortgage rates twice the Eurozone average

If that does not explain why politicians don't support this cause, maybe

the people who vote don't care about the problems of middle class borrowers is part of the explanation

the fact that politicians themselves have large mortgages is another reason they don't support this cause.

Brendan
 
Mr Sarenco

I know that my translation of Adderese makes little sense either. So I used Google Translate to translate it into German, and then back again. Usually this helps to translate this type of writing, but in this case, the results aren't very helpful.

Mr Burgess

How else can you Mr Sarenco jumping on the avoidance of political train agree to the more popular with voters should be - unless of course the question middle layer so ashamed about the constraints are that they are financially in , with their stress you will not see - still - that the banks a significant IRISH ' ' double extract on their costs. It is perhaps that the grass roots , the politicians do not thrive on with SME tears in combination with the politicians own exposure scented financially
 
Many thanks for the translation.
If profanities were allowed I suppose what one would say is that a few F words would be thrown in

- The challenged middle class would have been called POOR by our parents generation;
- I have come across more financially distressed people in their 30s and 40s now and I think some are near suicide;
- They are not visiting their politicians because they carry deep shame;
- They have been royally [INSERT abusive term here] by the Banks and even though they know it deep down - they blame themselves.

Is that plain enough?
 
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Sarenco - try and meet a few stressed middle class challenged people.
After 4 you will have seen what I have seen.
 
Black_Adder said:
- The challenged middle class would have been called POOR by our parents generation;
Click to expand...

When my parents got married and bought their first house, they could not afford furniture. My grandparents donated a bed, they had packing cases for chairs.

They waited 3 years to have a telephone installed.

It was a number of years before they could afford a car, a TV, or a washing machine.

They went to London on honeymoon, their next foreign holiday was 6 years later.

By the standards of the day my parents were reasonably well off. They could buy a house when they married, they could afford a honeymoon.

Todays challenged middle may have stresses that my parents generation didn't have, but todays standard of living is much higher than in the 1970s or 1980s. And it does no service to anyone to pretend otherwise.
 
cremeegg - I am not sure what part of the Parish you visit - have you met some of the distressed people who are about to lose their house?
Many people to day wont be more better off than their parents.
 
so-crates said:
In fairness, that was probably a standard lead time for Telecom Eireann (if the stories are to be believed )
Click to expand...

It was absolutely true.

Ads for offices to let contained the number of phone lines available. If you were moving offices and needed say two phones, an office which had two phones was worth a lot more than an office with one phone line or none.

I can't remember phone lines being a feature of houses for sale ads.

Brendan
 
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