I firmly believe that we’re completely incapable of self governance. All the money in the world and we’ve got record housing crisis, record homelessness, highly stretched public services.
Our best years might actually have been when the Troika were in town.
Too much ineptitude. Too much corruption. And a complacent electorate who keeps coming back for more.
Our problem is not too much money, it’s too many politicians who either have no ideology beyond getting power or have an out of date and simplistic neoliberal ideology.
That’s a really complex way of saying that we are being over taxed.
VAT rates should be cut to 10% and 20% respectively
Remove VRT from electric cars
Create a trust to fund RTE and other public interest broadcasters and get rid of the TV licence tax
Build infrastructure
Etc etc etc
Time for a sovereign wealth fund
we should probably vote for the opposition so we have any kind of chance that maybe someone will do something sensible and not treat the country like it’s a child saving up their communion money in a piggybank when we have catastrophic issues that cost more and more every year they are not addressed
A FFG government are great at making money
They are absolutely abysmal at spending it responsibly. Avoiding bloat, infrastructure projects, avoiding corruption and back handers, managing social welfare etc etc
We as a collective need to demand more accountability. This includes moving away from the attitude that civil servants cannot be fired.
Time to make Dublin a better capital city it’s in bits
Here’s something I noticed yesterday. It’s about electricity.
The last 2 weeks we’ve had 95gWh excess electricity from wind at night. 8gWh is about the increase from normal to peak for all the 4 hours peak.
A kWh of battery power is now €60 euro. Which means I’m about 6 months out say a year to give wiggle room. We could charge enough at night to smooth out the peak later.
Batteries last 19 years. Solar is doubling every year so by 2026; we will have enough solar to have excess that we will we will want to store for later.
The government doesn’t do this sort of stuff. But for 400m to have a lot cheaper electricity seems like the sort of thing they could buy.
Infrastructure is the biggest hotpoint but there is so much red tape it would cost that and more. Harris is in danger of turning himself into another varadkar, continually pointing out the obvious and nothing being done about it
Problem #2 is the complete and utter inability to spend it wisely.
Problem #3 is they allow companies with government contracts to rip them off….like €2.2 billion for a €750 million hospital.
20m for dog abusers, 720m for RTE and who knows how much the children’s hospital will eventually cost
Just need to send all the excess cash to people as SSIAs. Absolutely nothing could go wrong.
Every politician we have can only think about how they’d enhance the parish. New hockey pitch, hurling wall, plant a few cherry blossoms perhaps. Terrified to invest in something long term and miss out on getting the credit once it’s complete.
And yet shit infrastructure
You know, a town with money’s a little like the mule with the spinning wheel.…
Yup a lotta money that they aren’t arsed spending it on the roads, tackle vacant buildings, legislation on housing, etc.
We might be earning more than we can spend (despite our best efforts down at the children’s hospital) but are we not 200+ billion in debt still since the crash? Could we not pay some of it off, or am I missing something?
I will my problem was having too much money
Jesus Christ…I long for the time when people view money as nothing other than the tool used to enable work to be done – and not like some limited resource we have to dig out of the ground.
So much that is wrong with what people view as economically possible/not-possible, based on _money_ being the limit – when the limits are typically _physical_ (availability of resources, labour, energy etc..).
Such stupid narratives surrounding money, that in austere times of artificial scarcity of money, we’re told we can’t have enough of what is needed (despite abundant labour and physical resources in downturns) – and now in times of abundance of money, being told the same fucking thing while an expanded Golden Circle are milking the the fuck out of every god damn public contract going…
It’s just so fucking annoying that narratives about money are used to put a veil over peoples eyes, and that this hasn’t lifted yet.
If you look at todays economic problems purely on a physical basis, and specifically at the housing crisis, then it’s quick to see that it has _always_ been an easily resolved problem.
There is an abundance of land, an abundance of the basic material resources needed for construction (and capacity for industry for materials to ramp up production), and there are plenty of people who – given the right incentives (priority for housing, _affordable_ housing, affordable financing) – will do the work of putting these basic physical materials together to build houses, in return for a bit of money, in large enough numbers to get the fucking crisis resolved _quickly_.
Hell, given the right incentives (priority for housing they build…) people will even take a break from well remunerated careers to do this as well – because the only alternative they have is _leaving the country_ instead – and every single person leaving, is someone that could be building.
In public finances, discussions about money are – contrary to what you may think – rarely about economics, and are usually more about politics – people should look at economics and what is possible, in terms of resources and labour etc. instead, not money.
4 horses or 100 rat for every citizen. Non citizen get a fair portion of feathers.
The problem is when they spend it none of it does any good for the actual tax paying residents.
yeah and incapable of using it to resolve housing, trolleys in hospitals, homelessness, shelters anything really that matters but let’s be sure to pump 13 million into horse and dog racing… super essential.. also I want my money back until I’m presented by a capable gvt with coherent and achievable plans to upgrade the country across all levels
Edit: 20 million for dog and horse abusers…
Sovereign wealth fund like Norway. Keep it in the back pocket for tougher times.
Having been around Europe it’s sad to see how far behind we are in terms of investment in public infrastructure compared to other countries. Greece, which is supposed to be poorer than us, has a functioning metro in Athens that connects to the airport. I would love that kind of thing for Dublin (or my own Waterford, dare we dream) but I can’t say I’d be happy if it was announced by the government because I’d have no confidence the government would budget responsibly and have the project finished in a timely manner (or finished at all).
Meanwhile, Irish youngsters can’t get housing. Great governance.
26 comments
I firmly believe that we’re completely incapable of self governance. All the money in the world and we’ve got record housing crisis, record homelessness, highly stretched public services.
Our best years might actually have been when the Troika were in town.
Too much ineptitude. Too much corruption. And a complacent electorate who keeps coming back for more.
Our problem is not too much money, it’s too many politicians who either have no ideology beyond getting power or have an out of date and simplistic neoliberal ideology.
That’s a really complex way of saying that we are being over taxed.
VAT rates should be cut to 10% and 20% respectively
Remove VRT from electric cars
Create a trust to fund RTE and other public interest broadcasters and get rid of the TV licence tax
Build infrastructure
Etc etc etc
Time for a sovereign wealth fund
we should probably vote for the opposition so we have any kind of chance that maybe someone will do something sensible and not treat the country like it’s a child saving up their communion money in a piggybank when we have catastrophic issues that cost more and more every year they are not addressed
A FFG government are great at making money
They are absolutely abysmal at spending it responsibly. Avoiding bloat, infrastructure projects, avoiding corruption and back handers, managing social welfare etc etc
We as a collective need to demand more accountability. This includes moving away from the attitude that civil servants cannot be fired.
Time to make Dublin a better capital city it’s in bits
Here’s something I noticed yesterday. It’s about electricity.
The last 2 weeks we’ve had 95gWh excess electricity from wind at night. 8gWh is about the increase from normal to peak for all the 4 hours peak.
A kWh of battery power is now €60 euro. Which means I’m about 6 months out say a year to give wiggle room. We could charge enough at night to smooth out the peak later.
Batteries last 19 years. Solar is doubling every year so by 2026; we will have enough solar to have excess that we will we will want to store for later.
The government doesn’t do this sort of stuff. But for 400m to have a lot cheaper electricity seems like the sort of thing they could buy.
Links
Excess https://x.com/EnergyCloud_org/status/1851009178325733594
Price https://x.com/sdmoores/status/1849375715961016368
Peak price increase is 6c with retail cost 32c per kWh
Infrastructure is the biggest hotpoint but there is so much red tape it would cost that and more. Harris is in danger of turning himself into another varadkar, continually pointing out the obvious and nothing being done about it
Problem #2 is the complete and utter inability to spend it wisely.
Problem #3 is they allow companies with government contracts to rip them off….like €2.2 billion for a €750 million hospital.
20m for dog abusers, 720m for RTE and who knows how much the children’s hospital will eventually cost
Just need to send all the excess cash to people as SSIAs. Absolutely nothing could go wrong.
Every politician we have can only think about how they’d enhance the parish. New hockey pitch, hurling wall, plant a few cherry blossoms perhaps. Terrified to invest in something long term and miss out on getting the credit once it’s complete.
And yet shit infrastructure
You know, a town with money’s a little like the mule with the spinning wheel.…
Yup a lotta money that they aren’t arsed spending it on the roads, tackle vacant buildings, legislation on housing, etc.
We might be earning more than we can spend (despite our best efforts down at the children’s hospital) but are we not 200+ billion in debt still since the crash? Could we not pay some of it off, or am I missing something?
I will my problem was having too much money
Jesus Christ…I long for the time when people view money as nothing other than the tool used to enable work to be done – and not like some limited resource we have to dig out of the ground.
So much that is wrong with what people view as economically possible/not-possible, based on _money_ being the limit – when the limits are typically _physical_ (availability of resources, labour, energy etc..).
Such stupid narratives surrounding money, that in austere times of artificial scarcity of money, we’re told we can’t have enough of what is needed (despite abundant labour and physical resources in downturns) – and now in times of abundance of money, being told the same fucking thing while an expanded Golden Circle are milking the the fuck out of every god damn public contract going…
It’s just so fucking annoying that narratives about money are used to put a veil over peoples eyes, and that this hasn’t lifted yet.
If you look at todays economic problems purely on a physical basis, and specifically at the housing crisis, then it’s quick to see that it has _always_ been an easily resolved problem.
There is an abundance of land, an abundance of the basic material resources needed for construction (and capacity for industry for materials to ramp up production), and there are plenty of people who – given the right incentives (priority for housing, _affordable_ housing, affordable financing) – will do the work of putting these basic physical materials together to build houses, in return for a bit of money, in large enough numbers to get the fucking crisis resolved _quickly_.
Hell, given the right incentives (priority for housing they build…) people will even take a break from well remunerated careers to do this as well – because the only alternative they have is _leaving the country_ instead – and every single person leaving, is someone that could be building.
In public finances, discussions about money are – contrary to what you may think – rarely about economics, and are usually more about politics – people should look at economics and what is possible, in terms of resources and labour etc. instead, not money.
4 horses or 100 rat for every citizen. Non citizen get a fair portion of feathers.
The problem is when they spend it none of it does any good for the actual tax paying residents.
yeah and incapable of using it to resolve housing, trolleys in hospitals, homelessness, shelters anything really that matters but let’s be sure to pump 13 million into horse and dog racing… super essential.. also I want my money back until I’m presented by a capable gvt with coherent and achievable plans to upgrade the country across all levels
Edit: 20 million for dog and horse abusers…
Sovereign wealth fund like Norway. Keep it in the back pocket for tougher times.
Having been around Europe it’s sad to see how far behind we are in terms of investment in public infrastructure compared to other countries. Greece, which is supposed to be poorer than us, has a functioning metro in Athens that connects to the airport. I would love that kind of thing for Dublin (or my own Waterford, dare we dream) but I can’t say I’d be happy if it was announced by the government because I’d have no confidence the government would budget responsibly and have the project finished in a timely manner (or finished at all).
Meanwhile, Irish youngsters can’t get housing. Great governance.
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