Comments for Can Ireland Outsmart the European Central Bank? at http://www.cepr.net , comment 1 to 5 out of 5 comments http://www.cepr.net Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:17:03 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/cepr-blog/can-ireland-outsmart-the-european-central-bank#comment-15625 @Eiresans It's FF. But shhh... Not sure how far this will get. I think the ECB might like the bonds. It would ensure that their balance sheet were much stronger and that much of the risk in the Eurozone banks also dissipated. They would still have all the pre-crisis mechanisms (and then some) in place to 'deal with' budget deficits. (SGP, new fiscal pact etc.). - Philip Pilkington Sat, 31 Mar 2012 02:04:16 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/cepr-blog/can-ireland-outsmart-the-european-central-bank#comment-15619 I take your point, there are severe deficits in political will at play. Perhaps Mariano Rajoy can swim further against his economic instincts & strongarm the centre, forcing a change in policy, & maybe providing a fellow Christian Democrat's inspiration for people like Enda. This should probably be addressed more to Spain or Italy. Still, Phil Pilkington was over on nakedcapitalism saying he was in talks with an Irish opposition party, I'm thinking Shinners, about raising the issue. http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/03/philip-pilkington-mmt-to-the-rescue-in-the-the-eurozone.html - Eiresans Fri, 30 Mar 2012 11:42:46 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/cepr-blog/can-ireland-outsmart-the-european-central-bank#comment-15617 @Eiresans If the Irish government was willing to face down the ECB it would have done it before now. Paying off the unguaranteed debt of the defunct Anglo-Irish Bank was hugely unpopular. But the ECB insisted. So while you're right that their threats to nuke the banks don't look credible, their bluff will probabaly not be called unless one of the larger countries gets into serious trouble. - Kevin Donoghue Fri, 30 Mar 2012 10:42:45 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/cepr-blog/can-ireland-outsmart-the-european-central-bank#comment-15616 & the ECB really wants to nuke the banks? They'd be over a barrel - Eiresans Fri, 30 Mar 2012 10:00:02 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/cepr-blog/can-ireland-outsmart-the-european-central-bank#comment-15613 Maybe the issue of tax-backed bonds is legal, but the ECB might retaliate by refusing to accept any bonds issued by the offending government as collateral. In Ireland's case at least, that would nuke the banks. - Kevin Donoghue Fri, 30 Mar 2012 08:25:23 +0100