Eddie Hobbs on the late late show

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I liked the way he claimed to have "in a sense" seen it coming. And yet he was promoting overseas property up to the last minute!
 
tloan said:
A bit pessimistic wasn`t it?
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What, talking about a recovery in the world economy some time next year? The man's a hopeless optimist. The global economy will be lucky to see any recovery before 2010. It might filter through into Ireland by 2011.
 
extopia said:
I liked the way he claimed to have "in a sense" seen it coming. And yet he was promoting overseas property up to the last minute!
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Maybe he had a "sense" but decided he wouldn't warn anyone else about it despite being on the airwaves on an almost weekly basis for the past few years!

Hard to find fault with what he said about the problems we face and the incompetency of the government though. It's like the government & the banks have the same PR advisors - deny the scale of the problems to the end so you don't have to put in place the really tough measures to tackle them.

I imagine in years to come Ireland will be held up as the prime example of how not to manage a property boom & bust.
 
I particularly liked his suggestion-NOT-to tax the security of public sector employment as benefit-in-kind and yet he is against cutting public sector pay!!
 
If I recall he's been publicly pushing gold for at least three years, called an Irish property bust some years ago and in his book he'd a chapter on the dangers of a credit bubble burst in the US complete with a guide on what to do. It was written in 2005. He's also been banging on about public sector pay for several years.

Whether one likes him or not is beside the point. He's been consistent. The real question is if one agrees with the assessment of a potential US and global upturn as early as second half 09, that Cowen et al have "lost the dressing room" and that hope must replace despair if consumers are to restart spending with confidence.
 
Just how does anyone deliver a cautionary message about impending danger to those who are heavily engrossed in an opposing agenda ?
Those who tried to ring the warning bell pre the current crisis were castigated as doom laden, dull, dreary, and even fuelling negativity when they pointed out the madness of our economic situation.
We just don't want to know.
 
webtax said:
I imagine in years to come Ireland will be held up as the prime example of how not to manage a property boom & bust.
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Ireland is already held up as the prime example of how not to manage a property boom. At least Eddie was correct in recognising the necessity of reducing the take home pay in the public service.
 
Tom123; said:
764468 He's been consistent.
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I'm not quite sure I see the consistency in advising people to hold off on buying property now, just 18 short months after his heavy selling job for his own 'Brendan Investments'.

Slim said:
I particularly liked his suggestion-NOT-to tax the security of public sector employment as benefit-in-kind and yet he is against cutting public sector pay!!
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It would be nice if he got his facts straight first. I'm a public servant and I have no guarantee of security. I was speaking last week to a lady from the Combat Poverty Agency who is losing her job shortly, as a result of that agency being absorbed (silenced) back into DSFA. So where is this so-called 'security of tenure' that he is basing his proposal own. Perhaps instead of whinging about the cost of public sector DB pensions, he would look at the cost of tax relief given on all pension contributions, which in fact costs more than the entire public sector pension bill.

But I guess it's easy to go for the obvious targets, eh Eddie?
 
I'm going into town with a small bucket and a pair of pliers. I gonna collect gold teeth from anyone who accosts me and I hope to have a sucessful run. :)
 
he did his best to make sense considering the panel of "experts" he was on with. Nell McCafeterty was totally at sea - did anyone tell her why she was coming on? and Joe was just annoying as always.
 
allthedoyles said:
I agree with - complainer - ...... Govt should look at tax on pension contributions
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tax pension contributions? yes that's a great idea. we'll throw away the pension reserve fund as well will we? sure the pensions deficit won't happen at all - what with us all being starved of credit.
 
Most public sector jobs, not agency jobs are paid a large amount above the private sector AND have security. To levy BIK in these extreme economic circumstances is worth exploring at the very least otherwise it is inevitable that health and education will get hollowed early next year. That means higher mortality from our sick and poorer education for our children.The property company was investing in Germany not in Ireland, a very big difference. If it has stayed in cash over the past year its investors should do well.
 
If the public sector is such a great and privelaged job, why didnt Eddie and co. sign up years ago...??? Is it because he was to busy making loads of money flogging overseas property. Now the call is for the public sector to foot the bill..
Public sector employment was not sought after for the last number of years because most people realised that there was more money to be made in the private sector and I take my hat off to people who made a conscious decision to chose this route, but we're all big boys now and suddenly the jobs that people, not so long ago didnt want, are sought after again.
I have no problem in putting my shoulder to the wheel and realise that cuts and sacrifices have to be made in these times but I find it hard to listen to Eddie and co., who made fortunes during the boom.. asking the public sector to foot the bill of the bust...
 
Bop said:
Public sector employment was not sought after for the last number of years because most people realised that there was more money to be made in the private sector and I take my hat off to people who made a conscious decision to chose this route, but we're all big boys now and suddenly the jobs that people, not so long ago didnt want, are sought after again.
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It is not the case that people were turning up their noses at the public service jobs during the Celtic Tiger years - I've heard people put this point forward a number of times on Matt Coopers show and Matt always says the public service took on an additional 70,000 people between the year 2000 and 2007.
 
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