What planet are these people on?

Two recent stories make it still clearer just what an alternate universe those who control financial institutions and governments of the world live in. The first is the recent “stress tests” carried out on 91 banks by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors. 7 banks failed – 5 Spanish, 1 German and 1 Greek. Amazingly, AIB was passed as healthy, as well as the Bank of Ireland, the only two Irish banks included. The summary report is available here. The 7 banks that failed the test needed 3.5bn euro of new capital to meet the standards required.

In AIB’s case, passing the test assumes that it would succeed in a €7.4 billion plan to raise further capital by the end of the year.

I wonder where they got the idea it would be able to raise whatever extra capital it needed?

Let’s call this stress test what it was – an attempt by the European financial elite to con the public into believing that the capitalist system has resolved the contradictions that led to the recent crisis. They must think we are stupid, and that throwing a few sacrifical lambs to the wolves will give it added credibility. Nonsense. See the RTÉ report for Lenihan’s attempt at spin.

Speaking of whom, the second story that shows how the political elite remains trapped in the failed ideology of neo-liberalism is the planned privitisation of public assets such as the ESB, CIE, An Post, and Bord Gáis, with the “stock-taking” under the chairmanship of Colm McCarthy. This has been aptly described by WP President Mick Finnegan as “a firesale of the people’s assets”. The market has failed disastrously. So what is the answer these people propose? Take the semi-state companies that have been working well, and hand them over – cheaply of course – to the market, so that customer service standards can fall, the workers can see their working conditions devestated, and multi-nationals can make still more profits. This money can then be used to avoid increasing taxation on those best able to pay, and will also realise cash to throw into the black hole of the banks and property speculators should they need it. Awesome. Back to Mick Finnegan.

Having near bankrupted the country with reckless economic policies and crippled the next generation of our people with debt through the banking bailout, the government is now intent on selling the family silver. These state and semi-state companies were built over many years of public investment and hard work. They must not be sold off by a deranged government and there is an onus on the trade union movement, the left and anyone who believes in the future of this country to stand up and oppose this madness.

Exactly.