There is little doubt that the budget due in December will be of vital importance in terms of Irish economic development. Simply put if we get it right we can look forward to a prosperous future – get it wrong and we could suffer for decades to come.
Before we get too maudlin it is worth looking at the last great financial crisis in Irish history – the currency crisis and how it was viewed by one of Ireland
“The day credit liberated ordinary Irish people, David McWilliamsFor many, January 31, 1993 is significant. It was the day the punt devalued, interest rates started to fall and the banks started to lend. It was the beginning of the process where the banks did what the credit unions had been doing for years - they started to lend to ordinary people. This greater and more democratic access to credit has done more to liberate millions of ordinary Irish people than any political move by any government in any decade since the foundation of the state. When you have credit, economic possibilities abound, social mobility becomes the norm and the aspirations and dreams of millions are achievable.
…. But quite apart from the economic impacts, the psychological effect of moving from a country where credit was rationed to a country where credit is freely available cannot be underestimated. The most liberating development in post-independence
Credit has harnessed our energies for the first time ever, at home. This development, more than anything else, changed Ireland Ireland
Let us hope for all our sakes that December 7th 2010 is the date
