Again there’s no light at the end of the tunnel because there is nothing to dig with. The instruments are blunt.
Get used to it boys.

as for ‘linear’ solutions or otherwise, i don’t think this means another decade of free german money, this time there will be strings attached and it would be better if we solved our own problems.

i remain an optimistic bear.

The article quoted by Stuart Blythman not only selective quotes data to paint a bleak picture but is also factually wrong on several counts.

Yes, the zloty did depreciate by some 40%. But since interest rates in Switzerland and elsewhere dropped mortgage payments did not double, but thus far increased by up to 50%. That is a lot, but so far there has not been a noticeable increase in late payments.

Banks too big to save, is not an Eastern European phenomenon. But rather a problem of small West European countries with oversize banking systems, as well as, possibly the UK. Just for the record the total liabilities of Poland’s banks to GDP amount to c.a. 85%.

Recession? Well, last year Poland’s GDP grew at some 4-5%. This year it is likely to grow at 1-2%. The worst is still ahead of us here in Poland. But not bad, considering that most of our trading partners are in recession.

Currency mismatch in bank balance sheets? It may exist at level of individual banks, but for the commercial banking system as a whole the ratio of foreign assets and domestic loans in foreign currency, to foreign liabilities and foreign financing stands at a pretty balanced figure of 1,09.

p.s. that does not mean to say that there are not some huge risks threatening the Polish economy — but this being a blog on the Irish economy, and the linked articles not raising these issues I will end here.

The investor market model has failed and there is nothing for the powers that be to take its place, because it means the end to expansion and the vision of ”free global trade” or as I see it ”free global slavery.”
Having the emerging economies China, India, and so, was a golden opportunity to have cheep industry produce cheep goods, while the rest of the ”superior powers” developed there (education) engineering skills in all things - high-tech - a step beyond the vulgar industrial.
Ha, funny thing if you think about it. Ireland somehow decided it was all in house property, and a few high-tech US companies making use of the ”well educated.”
Who ever they are, they’re certainly not in Government. Maybe they’re the ”Golden Circle.” Anyway!

I finish off by saying: Have any of you considered the IMF the FED running out.
Do you think America can go on printing money forever?

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/06a45f2a-0118-11de-8f6e-000077b07658.html

http://www.frontlinethoughts.com/pdf/mwo022009.pdf

It makes interesting if scary reading. Is Eastern Europe really in that big a mess? Why don’t we hear about this in the business commentary here. After all they are our fellow Europeans and presumably we will be bailing them out. Well they will be ahead of us in the queue.

That is, the international news has recently been dominated by companies cutting costs. This is bad news for those that lose their jobs or see their wages fall, but it is the first step towards economic recovery. Government stimuli are the other big part of the news. This hurts fiscal hawks, but it is another step towards recovery.

Recently, there have not been stories about bursting bubbles or financial institutions falling over. People have made protectionist noise, but there has not much action on this front.

If my reading is correct, then we have not seen events that trigger and deepen the recession. We have entered the recovery phase.

Don’t get me wrong: Economic adjustment and recovery is painful — but at least there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m talking about the world economy. There is still a reasonable chance that our dear leaders mess up the Irish economy for a decade or more.

Maybe I’m just too optimistic, but things seem to be looking up.