November 22, 2011
Aldo Ferrer: Speculative Attacks & Sovereign Debt, a voice of experience
I translated part of an Interview with the Octogenarian Dr. Aldo Ferrer (mini bio. below), November 2011 at the University of Buenos Aires an interviewer for the Argentine Times ("El Tiempo") asked Ambassador Ferrer whether he ever might have expected to see Europe in the state that it is in today? His reply demonstrates Ferrer's experience in the defense of his nation against the international speculative bond markets...
Ferrer's response was very revealing:
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Posted by Tony Phillips at 01:14 PM | Comments (4)
March 18, 2011
Saint Patrick in Saigon
Corporate city Vietnam, 2011: This "Patrick's" day of ritualized alcohol consumption has long since become dissociated from the mythical man who gave this day his name. Patrick was a Roman Britain who wandered dangerously close to the edge of empire being snatched from a British beach by the corporate raiders of the 5th. century, an independent consulting firm known by the charming brand: "Niall of the nine hostages."
Niall was no fisherman! His team captured slaves from the coastline of Roman Britain selling them on as forced labour to a rural Irish economy. The legend says that Patrick was sold on as a pig farming slave to an animist Celtic Chieftain on the island the Romans called "Hibernia", on or about the year of our lord 450AD.
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Posted by Tony Phillips at 01:52 AM | Comments (1)
December 09, 2010
“Scream early and scream loud”: An Argentine perspective on the Irish bailout
December 9, 2010 by Tony Phillips
Tony Phillips is an Irish researcher in the University of Buenos Aires, Faculty of Economics. He specialises in alternative development, sovereign debt issues and ecological economics.
Ireland in December 2010 shows many parallels with Argentina in December 2001. This phase of the negotiations cost Argentina dear; riots, deaths, banking collapse and frozen accounts (the notorious “Corralito”). The peso was all but destroyed (a 75% depreciation) prompting the largest sovereign default in the history of modern finance.
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Posted by Tony Phillips at 07:51 PM | Comments (1)
November 29, 2010
Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do or die
UPDATED: Buenos Aires, Argentina: Dec 6, 2010: Does the new 5.8% rescue fund interest rate demonstrate European solidarity with Ireland? Is the European Union abandoning the Irish people? What about the IMF, will they save Ireland? Why are voices in the media mentioning a deal when a budget has yet to be approved?
What follows is a realistic Argentine perspective on this critical phase of debt negotiation. The hindsight offered by historical comparisons with Argentina in 2002 is not 20/20 but Argentina’s experiences may provide some general guid-ance. If only one thing can be made clear it is that the IMF and the ECB are in Dublin for systemic global financial stability (of creditors). They are not there to protect the Irish taxpayer.
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Posted by Tony Phillips at 03:36 PM | Comments (1)
November 26, 2010
Bailout, Intervention and Political Collapse
150 protestors shouting "Cowen, Cowen, Cowen, Out, Out, Out" pushed open the gates of Government Buildings in Dublin on Nov. 22nd after a €100Bn.[1] bailout and IMF intervention the day before.
Avoiding answering allegations of his own involvement, Brian Cowen, Prime Minister (Taoiseach) declared he would dissolve parliament (calling elections) but only after "passing the budget" (a statesman to the last). One has to suppose that the Taoiseach still believes that he shall be able to pass the proposed budget. Financial times commentator, John Authers, in an interview with Vincent Browne has his doubts.
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Posted by Tony Phillips at 02:28 PM | Comments (0)
November 19, 2010
Speaking Truthiness to the Irish Times
The Irish Times "Opinion" section has spoken. It welcomes the IMF to Ireland. Maybe the Irish Times should ask Latin America why they decided to pay back all of their debt to the IMF so as to kick their consultants out of their national Ministries of Economics, and then again, maybe not. The IMF is a fait acompli for now, I beg a moment of your time to point out a true flaw in the Times analysis.
To do that it is necessary to focus on the problem (foreign bond exposure) behind the problem (the banking crisis) behind the problem (speculative investments)?
Donal Donovan writes that a "Firm hand of the IMF will keep [Ireland] steering in right direction" His analysis is that:
"While psychologically [the Irish taxpayers] may feel put upon, the arrival of the International Monetary Fund is really not all that bad"
Is that so Mr. Donovan?
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Posted by Tony Phillips at 01:16 PM | Comments (2)
October 29, 2010
RIP Nestor Kirchner
Buenos Aires Thursday Oct 28, 2010 Thirty five thousand Argentines, mainly supporters of Nestor Kirchner's "Peronist" party, waited patiently in front of the Presidential Palace, The Pink House or "Casa Rosada". They were there to pay their respects. In the closed coffin is the body of a sixty year old man who died the day before, census day, in his home town in Patagonia. Former President Nestor Kirchner, husband of the current Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was dead. Nestor died early on Wednesday morning of a massive heart attack after he refused to scale back his political activities against the advise of his doctors. He had recently had two cardiac surgeries.
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Posted by Tony Phillips at 04:25 AM | Comments (2)
