Guarantee is "most catastrophic decision since WWII"

[anon15543343]

No shortage of damning assessments of Ireland’s future these days but this one caught the eye.

From Wolfgang Münchau, associate editor and columnist of the Financial Times

“On Tuesday, 30 September 2008, when Brian Cowen, the Irish prime minister, gave a blanket guarantee for the entire banking sector. His decision bounded the other eurozone leaders into following suit. The rest is history. I would go as far as to classify the decision as one of the most catastrophic political decision taken in post-war Europe.”

His solution:

Why not just default? History has shown that countries recover from default relatively quickly. But in Europe, default is considered such a gigantic blemish, that Europeans go to extremes to avoid it.

Why the EU’s bank rescue strategy is turning into a political and economic catastrophe
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[InForADime]

@WM

The Germans, too, are notorious optimistic about the underlying states of its banking sector, large parts of it are not properly capitalised.

Quite the opposite I’d have thunk. Why else would they be so desperate to get every cent of the €200b back from the Irish?

[Fooled_by_randomness]

The guarantee is the dumbest thing any Irish person did since McMurrough invited Strongbow in 1171.

[lord_vader]

i think u could go back a couple of years further and say it was the greatest blunder since hitler invaded russia in 1941

[What_Goes_Up]

Hitler’s gonna be pissed!

Guess this means that we can wipe that conflagration from the “Worst decision since…” analogy book.

From now on the Cowen/Lenihan bank guarantee will be the apogee of all things worst!

WooHoo!

Number 1, baby! Number ONE!!!

[osvaldoc]

The decision by Brian Cowen and Brian Lenihan on that faithful September morning must be the biggest mistake since Olaf the Hairy, high chief of all the vikings, accidentally ordered 80000 battle helmets with the horns on the inside.

[DSE3Br]

Either he’s changed the article or you made this up!

[danFTB]

ah, but shure you couldn’t make this stuff up lads

tinyurl.com/37glxdl

he doesnt say ‘WWII’ in fairness

[tea_drinker]

@danFTB

ah, but shure you couldn’t make this stuff up lads

tinyurl.com/37glxdl

he doesnt say ‘WWII’ in fairness

So it could be worst decision since Napoleonic wars? Nice one Brian, add that to your “Worst hangover ever”