Ireland bailout

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Ireland to Be 1st in Eurozone to Exit Bailout

By end of year as the country passes its latest EU/IMF test

(Newser) - In "a much-needed success story" for the EU, Ireland looks on course to become the first eurozone country to exit its bailout program —a $114 billion aid deal to be complete by the end of 2013, Reuters reports. The European Union and International Monetary Fund said the country...

Portugal Gov't Verges on Collapse

Country could soon go the way of Greece, Ireland

(Newser) - Today promises to be a tumultuous day in Portugal, with all signs pointing to the resignation of Prime Minister Jose Socrates and the collapse of his minority Socialist administration. The country’s parliament is expected to vote down Socrates’ austerity plan, a move the prime minister contends will force the...

Angry Voters in Ireland Rout Ruling Party

Leaders associated with collapse, bailout are sent packing

(Newser) - Irish voters have finally had enough of Fianna Fail, the long-dominating party blamed for leading the country into economic ruin, reports the Irish Independent . It's not clear whether opposition Fine Gael will get enough seats for an outright majority or will need to form a coalition government with a smaller...

Cowen Teeters as Greens Quit Irish Gov't

Elections now likely for February

(Newser) - Ireland's small but critical Green Party quit the coalition government today, just a day after Irish PM Brian Cowen stepped down as party chair but sought to hold on to his seat. The move puts pressure on Cowen to quit as the Greens join the opposition in calling for March...

Ireland PM Cowen Quits as Party Leader

But says he'll lead government through March election

(Newser) - Prime Minister Brian Cowen says he has resigned as leader of Ireland's dominant Fianna Fail party but intends to keep leading the government through the March election. Cowen's surprise announcement today capped a week of political crises that brought his coalition government to the brink of collapse. Never before in...

Irish PM Refuses to Quit Over Debt Crisis

Despite the fact that his own party is pretty angry

(Newser) - Prime Minister Brian Cowen refused to resign despite mounting anger within his own party over his management of Ireland's European-record deficit and its international bailout. Cowen successfully appealed to lawmakers planning a no-confidence motion to hold fire for a few more days at least. Crucially, his perceived chief rival for...

Why the Euro Was a Horrible Mistake
Why the Euro Was
a Horrible Mistake
paul krugman
Jan 13, 2011 12:34 PM CST

Why the Euro Was a Horrible Mistake

And how Europe can rectify it

(Newser) - Europe is a little like a classic Greek tragic hero, brought low by a singular act of hubris: the creation of the euro. In a lengthy piece in the New York Times , Paul Krugman argues that the euro was always a dubious idea, but European leaders “engaged in magical...

Irish Lawmakers OK $90B Bailout—Barely

Despite cries from opposition, motion passes 81-75

(Newser) - Irish lawmakers have voted to take the $90 billion international bailout fund, an emergency measure designed to keep Europe's debt crisis from getting worse. Prime Minister Brian Cowen won today's motion on an 81-75 vote. He argued that Ireland had no choice but to take loans from the European Union...

Germany Must Step Up in Euro Crisis
Germany Must Stop Carping, Step Up in Euro Crisis 




roger cohen
Nov 29, 2010 1:59 PM CST

Germany Must Stop Carping, Step Up in Euro Crisis

Berlin's not getting the bigger picture, writes Roger Cohen

(Newser) - Is the euro the new League of Nations—a grand experiment that eventually gets abandoned and left to waste away? With bailouts in Greece and Ireland and threats to Portugal and Spain, the currency “can no longer take its survival for granted just because its collapse would be unthinkable,...

EU Agrees to $113B Ireland Bailout

New rules for future emergencies also sketched out

(Newser) - European Union nations agreed today to give $113 billion in bailout loans to Ireland to help it weather the cost of its massive banking crisis, and sketched out new rules for future emergencies in an effort to restore faith in the euro currency. The rescue deal, approved by finance ministers...

Irish Protest Austerity Plan
 Irish Protest Austerity Plan 
Nov 27, 2010 1:10 PM CST

Irish Protest Austerity Plan

Thousands take to the streets of Dublin

(Newser) - As the final details of an international bailout were being ironed out, thousands of protesters clogged the streets of Dublin today to protest the nation's new austerity plan, reports the BBC . Among other things, it's going to mean tax hikes, sharp drops in public assistance, and thousands of layoffs in...

Europe Markets in Turmoil Over Debt Worries

New concerns (and rumors) center on Portugal, Spain

(Newser) - Authorities across Europe rejected a report that a Portuguese bailout would cut the risk of Spain needing similar action, the Wall Street Journal reports. A German paper had cited German finance ministers in the matter, but the ministry, Portugal, Spain, and the European Commission all said Portugal wasn’t being...

Irish Citizens Pay the Price for 'Sins' of Bankers
Irish Citizens Pay the Price
for 'Sins' of Bankers
paul krugman
Nov 26, 2010 12:11 PM CST

Irish Citizens Pay the Price for 'Sins' of Bankers

Paul Krugman: Austerity programs aren't working anyway

(Newser) - "Private wheeler-dealers" caused Ireland's mess, but the Irish government has been punishing its citizenry for three years now with austerity programs to repay the debt incurred, writes Paul Krugman. This pain is necessary to restore confidence, say all the "wise heads," even though the deep spending cuts...

Horses Starving in Cash-Strapped Ireland

Some 20K have been abandoned in sad herds

(Newser) - Among the hardest-hit victims of Ireland's economic crisis are the nation's beloved horses, who have been abandoned by the thousands and face a winter of starvation. Unwanted horses have driven the price for them so low that it's now cheaper to buy a new horse than to pay a vet...

IMF: Ireland Should Cut Taxes—for Women

'Sexist' plan slammed as austerity budget unveiled

(Newser) - The International Monetary Fund has proposed a range of measures to help Ireland restore its economy to health and some Irishmen are finding one in particular hard to swallow. The IMF recommends that the country cut income tax rates by 5%—for women only. Economists say this would boost the...

Europe's Bailouts Aren't Working
 Europe's Bailouts 
 Aren't Working 
OPINION
Nov 24, 2010 1:52 PM CST

Europe's Bailouts Aren't Working

Europe needs to do more than force Ireland and Co. to slash budgets

(Newser) - First there was Greece. Then Ireland. And now it looks like Portugal and Spain are next. “Let’s just be blunt: The Eurozone bailout program has failed,” writes Michael Schuman in Time . Europe has so far hoped that throwing money at troubled countries and ordering them to cut...

Irish Government Collapses After Bailout Deal

Brian Cowen says he will call election after budget passed

(Newser) - The bailout deal that Ireland's government reluctantly agreed to over the weekend has come too late to save at least one Irishman's job. Prime Minister Brian Cowen's ruling coalition has fallen apart and he has promised to dissolve the government after the country's 2011 budget is passed in December, the...

EU Agrees to Ireland Bailout
 EU Agrees to Ireland Bailout 
UPDATED
Nov 21, 2010 2:56 PM CST

EU Agrees to Ireland Bailout

'Tens of billions' will shore up foundering banks

(Newser) - Ireland officially hit the EU up for a loan today, after weeks of denying its debt-ridden banks needed a bailout. European Union finance ministers quickly agreed to the bailout, saying it "is warranted to safeguard financial stability in the EU and euro area." The amount remains to be...

Ireland: OK, OK, We'll Take the Bailout

'It will happen, absolutely,' says Central Bank governor

(Newser) - Ireland finally dropped the denial act today, with central bank chief Patrick Honohan saying that, yes, fine, the country would take a bailout from Europe and the IMF. “It is my expectation that will happen, absolutely,” he said. “It will be a large loan, because the purpose...

Europe Works Out $135B Irish Rescue Deal

...Even though Ireland insists it doesn't want to be rescued

(Newser) - Senior European financial officials emerged from a meeting in Brussels yesterday saying they were “intensifying preparations” for an Irish bailout of up to $135 billion. IMF experts will head to Dublin this week to examine the country’s finances and work out the details, the Wall Street Journal reports....

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