A CRY IN THE NIGHT

Very late in the night I might add. They were Irish and may have been drinking (could that be possible)? They were looking for help and advice and I tried to accomodate them. This is a bit of what I said.

"Look lads, the first thing you must do is not take this personally. It's not about you at all. As a matter of fact from where I sit what you lads had mapped out was the most draconian readjustment of your fiscal situation that I had seen in a long, long time. I'm not sure it would have worked in the long run but that wasn't the point was it? It gave you time and in the end time is either the great healer or the great decider but without it all is probably lost. And you know, it almost worked. It certainly got everything off the front pages for a goodly bit and even the stock market boys over here who know nothing about anything were feeling good about Europe. Now I don't know what you did to her but that Housefrau running Germany just couldn't keep her mouth shut could she, and...what's that you say, you did nothing...well, I expected that. She's a politician and not a great one at that and I suspect that her "constiuancies" as the Germans like to say were yapping at her heels about what was going on in the south of the region.

"Ok, I understand they were mad and perhaps even why they were mad. They got suckered by the Greeks and the bad guys got bailed out and ran like the thieves they are. Sorry about that Frau Merkel but they're gone and not coming back so just deal with it. The situation is not good anywhere in Euroland if the truth be known but I guess no one ever told her that washing dirty linin in public is really not a very good idea and if you didn't believe that before the events of the past couple of weeks should make a believer out of anyone.

"You see lads, this is not about you but about Spain and Italy. Everyone knows Greece will need to be restructured and Portugal is simply too small--as are you...NOW DON'T GET YOUR IRISH UP--I'm just telling you the truth. Problem is you let your banks get too big...yes,I know you know that, now don't get mad at me again...but the other guys not only have bank problems...what's that...yes I'm talking about Spain and Italy...but major fiscal worries as well and they are not prepared, like yourselves, to put the hammer down. So you see lads, the German and French banking systems could go kaput unless these two get delt with and with the Greek experience hanging around their neck, their "ein volk" pals jumping up ugly, the Dutchies being...well, Dutch, they need to set an example for what must surely come. In other words, having caused the problem with their big mouth they are looking to you to solve it. Your friends, the Brits, knew better and have already agreed to help you out...OH COME ON! I BLOODY WELL KNOW THEY ARE MERELY ACTING IN THEIR OWN INTEREST BECAUSE A COUPLE OF THEIR BANKS ARE CHOCKER-BLOCK WITH YOUR PAPER...give me a break will you, but the way they went about it was the right way for a change; just shut up and get on with it.

"Now as I see it, you've got a choice to make. You're going to have to agree to someone looking over your shoulder but that was going to happen anyway. I, too, wouldn't want anything to to do with the IMF because they are about as useful as teats on a boar hog but you are going to get pushed that way. You can simply draw the line there and play what we call "chicken" over here because if this doesn't work out now that the idiots on the continent brought the whole thing out into the light of day, there's a pretty good chance everything goes down the crapper including the Euro and the EU itself; and everybody on dry land knows that. They might blink, but even if they do, the damage because of this very public negotiation might already be done. I'm not sure that would be in your best interests either and remember, I sincerely believe that not even the IMF could dream up conditionality worse than what you have already proposed. Further...what's that?...yes I know the issue of corporate taxation strikes at the very heart of sovereignty but you know what? You are probably going to have to give them that; that's their pound of flesh. Just remember what the Italians say: revenge is a dish best eaten cold. When this straightens out, you will know what to do."



We talked for quite a bit longer, but that covers the highpoints. They seemed to make more sense as the conversation wore on, which just proves what i've been saying all along: time heals most things even if they're legless. I wish them well, I really do. Whilst their banking supervisionleft a lot to be desired (and they know it) ours was hardly without fault. Problem was in their case it was big banks, little country. In ours, big banks and A REALLY BIG COUNTRY that prints its own currency. Even in banking, size matters.