Economy Archives - Village Magazine

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Heir Apparent’s Big Day Out

by Village 4 October, 2024

Conor Lenihan interviewed Minister for Finance, Jack Chambers on the eve of his first budget Jack Chambers assails Sinn Féin policies that would turn Irish economic success “to dust” and says Trump policies are a “present risk” to Irish growth; Conor Lenihan sees Chambers as heir apparent to Micheál Martin and says few in Fianna Fáil would consider opposing Martin if he runs for the Presidency next year. In his office on Merrion Street, Chambers told Village Magazine that Irish economic success would “turn to dust” should Sinn Féin be allowed into government. Describing Sinn Féin’s alternative budget as “reckless and dangerous”, Chambers said their policies would seriously risk and jeopardise the country’s progress. “We are in line to receive around €30bn in corporation tax this year – much of which is from multinationals operating here. Sinn Fein’s proposals would not only discourage any from setting up here but would drive the existing companies away”, he said. Chambers was surprisingly trenchant: “Worst of all, Sinn Féin have said they would raid the Future Ireland Fund which will be essential in providing for current and future generations”. His comments will be read as his first shots in the election campaign with a general election now expected by political pundits for 15 November. Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are expected to target Sinn Féin which they perceive to be weak on a number of fronts. “Worst of all, Sinn Féin have said they would raid the Future Ireland Fund which will be essential in providing for current and future generations”.His comments will be read as his first shots in the election campaign with a general election now expected by political pundits for 15 November. The new Finance Minister professed admiration for some of the new initiatives on clean energy being carried out by the Starmer Labour government in the UK. Chambers acknowledges that Ireland must now pay attention to the risks we face due to the retreat from globalisation from which Ireland greatly benefited.: “The country must be prepared for potential disruptions to global trade, especially with key trading partners like the US and China. Managing these risks will require a careful balancing of domestic and international interests”. Not mincing his words, Chambers cites a Donald Trump presidency as one of the key risks we face: “It certainly presents risk and possibilities of disruption, as it did on his previous term, but some of the risk didn’t necessarily crystallise. However, some of the Trump policies in lots of areas are a present risk”. He intends to use the €8.3 billion available to him on budget day to promote growth: “Our primary focus is on providing tax relief to workers, promoting enterprise, addressing the housing crisis and securing long-term sustainability through strategic investments”. “”. Chambers has insisted that the tax package in his budget will be targeted at lower and middle income earners. He admits that the average worker on approximately €50,000 still carries a “significant tax burden”. “Beyond tax relief, a core aspect of our economic policy is fostering enterprise and innovation. These are the driving forces behind the future productivity and competitiveness of the Irish economy”. In Fianna Fáil circles his meteoric arrival in Finance and his appointment by Micheál Martin as Deputy Leader of Fianna Fail makes him the heir apparent to Martin if the latter moves on following the General Election. With Michael McGrath gone to Brussels it is hard to detect any serious opposition to him becoming leader. Of course Darragh O’Brien, Jim O’Callaghan and more recently Norma Foley have also got their supporters. Chambers, not unlike other colleagues, will not be drawn on what the future for his party will be beyond the leadership of Micheál Martin. There has of course been intense recent speculation that Martin may be a candidate in the Presidential election which will happen towards the end of next year when Michael D Higgins stands down. Few would presume to oppose Martin should he decide to run for the party. Fine Gael under Simon Harris are enjoying a huge opinion poll boost to their support. It remains to be seen if this will be sustained. Clearly Fianna Fáil are hoping that a strong budget performance from Jack Chambers will even out the extraordinary surge in support that Simon Harris has brought about. A distinct feature of the recent European and local elections was the strong rate of transfer between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael candidates when one or the other dropped out. This is clearly giving hope to Martin and Fianna Fáil that the General election will not fare out to be bad for them. Jack Chambers (33) has been Minister for Finance since June 2024 when he was also appointed deputy leader of Fianna Fáil. He previously served as a Minister of State attending cabinet from July 2020 to June 2024, and as Government Chief Whip from July 2020 to December 2022. He has been the Dublin West constituency since the 2016 general election. He was educated at Belvedere College; Trinity College where he studied Law and Political Science; and the College of Surgeons where he completed a medical degree. He is the youngest Minister for Finance since Michael Collins and a likely successor to the leadership of Fianna Fáil. In the first part of the interview, former Fianna Fáil Innovation Minister and journalist, Conor Lenihan, discussed the budget and the Sate’s finances. In a second part, to appear in Village magazine later this week, Michael Smith talked to him about his political outlook. He gave Village over an hour of his time the week before the budget, remaining characteristically upbeat, solid and sober throughout the interview. Here’s the interview, lightly edited for length: Economic Statement on Tax, Expenditure, and Growth Since I became Minister in June, I’ve been working on the Summer Economic Statement and latterly Budget 2025. The Statement outlines a comprehensive plan to use €8.3 billion in tax and expenditure measures for sustainable economic growth. Our primary focus is on providing tax relief to workers, promoting

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€75m spent on CEOs of commercial state companies in the last decade

by admin 28 February, 2024

Half the CEOs of commercial state companies earn in excess of €250,000 a year despite pay ceiling By Conor O’Carroll. Just over €75 million has been spent on the salary and benefits of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of commercial state companies in the past decade, a Village investigation has revealed. The total salary of half of these CEOs has exceeded €250,000 a year, while some pay packages reach €300,000 and beyond. This is despite a ‘pay ceiling’ of €250,000 a year being introduced in 2011 by then Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin, TD. The cap was introduced amid the severe economic conditions facing the country at the time and set a general pay ceiling of €250,000 for future appointments to CEO posts within commercial state companies. However, Village analysed the financial accounts of 28 of these companies since 2012 and found that while the basic salaries of CEOs typically fell below the pay ceiling, once the slew of benefits, performance bonuses, expenses and pension contributions were included, many of the salaries surpassed the government’s cap. Since 2012, ESB has paid the most of any commercial state company on the total salary of its CEO, with over €4.2 million spent State companies whose CEO’s basic salary exceeded the cap at the time of introduction were encouraged to take voluntary pay cuts to bring them in line with the regulations. Companies such as An Post, the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) and Coillte complied, bringing their base salaries under the cap within a few years of its introduction. The base salary of the CEO of ESB, however, has had their salary rise since the pay cap, having received an exemption from the government. According to financial records, former CEO Pat O’Doherty’s salary was €295,000 in 2012 and this has risen to just over €318,000 for current CEO Paddy Hayes. As with every other company, Hayes’ salary is also enlarged with various benefits meaning his total remuneration surpassed €389,000 for 2022, making him the best-paid CEO of a commercial state company. Also high on the list of earners include Bord na Móna CEO Tom Donnellan, former RTÉ Director General Dee Forbes and Irish Aviation Authority CEO Peter Kearney. Despite resigning from the DAA mid-way through the year, Dalton Philips still received the 3rd highest package of all the commercial state company CEOs, with total remuneration surpassing €340,000. Each of those in the top 10 received a total salary that surpasses the €250,000 pay ceiling and analysis by Village found that total earnings for a further three state commercial company CEOs breached the cap in 2022. On average, there was a roughly 30% increase in total take-home pay from the base salary once all the benefits and bonuses had been added. Responding to Village’s findings, Sinn Féin’s spokesperson for Public Expenditure and Reform, Rose Conway-Walsh TD said “CEO pay in many cases is excessive” and that the “cap needs to be enforced and should cover all benefits and performance-based payments”. The total salary of half of these CEOs has exceeded €250,000 a year, while some pay packages reach €300,000 and beyond Others who earned just below the cap included the CEOs of Dublin Bus and the Dublin Port Company, both of whom left their respective roles at some point in 2022 and in previous years earned over €250,000. Changing CEOs can often be expensive for these companies, with retirement benefits and pay for interim CEOs often driving the yearly cost up substantially. Long-term ESB CEO Pat O’Doherty left the company after he retired in August 2021 and received over €500,000 before leaving. Hayes was appointed to replace him and after receiving his salary for the remaining months of the year, the total outlay for the year on CEO pay was almost €650,000. Another €500,000 was spent by VHI that same year when John O’Dwyer retired in July 2021, taking home €387,000, while a further €136,000 was spent on Declan Moran as interim CEO. A further €366,000 was spent on two interim CEOs the following year, exceeding the typical remuneration of previous years. A High Court decision in 2022 also obliged the Shannon Foynes Port Company to pay €373,000 in performance-related payments to current CEO Pat Keating for the years 2010-2017, substantially increasing the outlay for the company. Since 2012, ESB has paid the most of any commercial state company on the total salary of its CEO, with over €4.2 million spent. The DAA and VHI are close behind with roughly €4 million spent apiece, while RTÉ and An Post make up the top five having spent a little of €3.5 million. A further seven commercial state companies paid over €3 million in remuneration of their CEO over the period. In 2011, the government also introduced general salary guidelines for newly appointed CEOs of state commercial companies. Village analysed these figures and compared them with the most recent base salaries of the current CEOs, adjusting for inflation. On average, there was a roughly 30% increase in total take-home pay from the base salary once all the benefits and bonuses had been added Pay for CEOs at 12 state companies have exceeded these guidelines when adjusting the figures for inflation. Among those whose salaries exceed the adjusted salary guidelines by 10% are the Irish Aviation Authority (11%), Eirgrid (10%), the Cork Port Company (20%), the Shannon/Foynes Port Company (23%) and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (25%) – previously the National Road Authority. Not all state companies exceeded these guidelines, however, with some CEOs, including CIE (-36%), ESB (-13%), TG4 (-13%) and RTÉ (-8%), all receiving a base salary under the inflation-adjusted figures. Though, the appointment of Kevin Bakhurst as RTÉ Director-General and an increased base salary to €250,000 will all but wipe out the difference. Conway-Walsh told Village that “the correct and fair level for CEO pay is something that can be debated but state-owned companies must adhere to the salary cap set by government”. “The current approach to CEO pay in state-owned enterprises undermines transparency”, she continued, and while

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Work permissions for migrants yields a passive income for the official account owners from the labour of vulnerable non-European workers leaving payment per delivery for a Deliveroo worker in Ireland to drop from €4.39 to €2.90

by admin 31 May, 2023

The interdepartmental Rubik’s cube of work permissions for migrants yields a passive income for the official account owners from the labour of vulnerable non-European workers who have to risk life-and-limb while working without insurance, leading the basic payment per delivery for a Deliveroo worker in Ireland to drop from €4.39 to €2.90

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Checklist for sustainable building. By Caroline Hurley.

by admin 30 October, 2022

Construction educators ‘Common Knowledge’ promote empowerment to improve the environment, quality of life and the community. Their Co-Founder and lead instructor is on the television every Wednesday If inadequate housing remains Ireland’s biggest problem, new policy needs to be developed and implemented without delay. Build School “Within Common Knowledge, lies the potential to empower Irish people to create their own destinies, to build or improve their own homes and shelter”. — Manchán Magan Running since 2018 out of West Clare, Common Knowledge is a social enterprise founded by a small, talented and cosmopolitan group whose mission is to empower people with the skills, resources and sense of community for a more sustainable life. Social impact rather than profit is the aim: to support members in creatively managing just transition, removing stigma about actually building, and make living more affordable. The team at Common Knowledge They supplement intensive training with research and development, and community projects including plans for a building-tool library and sheep-fleece mobile scouring-unit. Their mission goes beyond mere concept or metaphor. High-spec Tiny Homes created by course participants got significant media coverage. Common Knowledge’s popular week-long house-building courses combine instruction, demonstration, and practice, shorn of common constraints and prejudices. They provide a comprehensive introduction to construction, covering basic principles so that skills learned on-site are relevant and transferable. “The course is designed for you to leave feeling equipped with the skills and confidence you will need to apply to any structure. So whether you’re planning a new build, dreaming of renovating a stone cottage, want to build your DIY skills and knowledge, or simply fancy the idea of collaborating and working alongside others for a week outdoors, this is the ideal introductory course for you”. Common Knowledge is a successful example of a type of organisation appearing around the country delivering potentially huge help for people to solve not just the housing but also the wider climate crisis. The State of Irish Housing According to the OECD, Irish houses now cost slightly more than the world average. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, which has lead responsibility, published the Housing For All policy in September 2021. This multi-annual, multi-billion euro plan promises to improve Ireland’s housing system and deliver more homes between now and 2030, to suit housing needs across the spectrum. The chief objective is universal access to good quality homes – to purchase or rent at an affordable price built to a high standard and in the right place offering a high quality of life All fine general principles with which few would disagree. For steady supply in right locations, and economic, social and environmental sustainability, an estimated 33,000 new homes are needed annually, to boost home ownership; eradicate homelessness; reduce resource-wasteful dereliction and vacancy; increase social housing delivery, new housing supply, and affordability; and support social inclusion. Multi-stakeholder input is reflected in 213 delivery actions. A newly-established Housing Commission is to examine themes such as tenure, standards, markets functioning, sustainability and quality-of-life issues, and to suggest wording for a housing referendum. When these exercises may become significant for ordinary house-seekers is unclear. Also emphasised is the non-commercial statutory Housing Agency, established by 2012 regulation to support government and local authorities perform functions under the Housing Acts, through services including: Housing Research and Analysis Housing Supply Supports and Advice Local Authority Services Approved Housing Body Services Mortgage Supports Acquisitions Programme Housing Projects and Procurement Services Pyrite Remediation The dearth of information on their website for everyday homeowners suggests a predisposition to a burgeoning professional and often multi-national corporate class involved in housing provision and management, not unlike the direction evidently being taken by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), a public body set up to support and develop a well-functioning rental housing sector. That existing tenants have no option rights on houses they live in if sold is a simple illustration of priorities. Though there has been a precipitous decline in their direct construction of housing in the last 40 years, local authoritiesare still heavily involved, through: building and purchasing houses supporting Approved Housing Bodies to buy and/or build providing accommodation using the private rented sector e.g. Housing Assistance Payment scheme, Rental Accommodation Scheme , Social Housing Leasing Expenditure Programme provision of grants e.g. housing adaptation grants other schemes which expand or improve current living conditions With many rental houses of low BER rating and accommodating resident who are unemployed or on low incomes, the Irish National Organisation for the Unemployed (INOU) and related bodies insist they need consistently distinct attention. The reality that families are being forced to split up to keep their housing eligibility not only violates social rights but confirms the need for new housing formats. State agency Solas is charged with fast-tracking construction training qualifications. A Feasta proposal argues for promoting regenerative hands-on technology in mainstream education. Starting up more organisations like Common Knowledge would foster such practical creativity while helping achieve energy-efficiency goals. Very useful is Citizen’s Information’s list of housing grants and schemes, details of which are often scattered across official and independent sources e.g. micro solar pv panels. Revenue also offers various, sometimes overlapping, reliefs relating to land and property. Planning questions and applications are dealt with by government departments, local authorities and An Bord Pleanála. Properties meeting conservation and heritage criteria may qualify for grants from bodies like the Heritage Council, local authorities, the Irish Georgian Society and others. Homelessness services are increasingly linked to the HSE and also, like health services themselves, being increasingly privatised. On building renovation, the Climate Action Plan 2021 focuses almost exclusively on retrofitting, even releasing a dedicated National Retrofit Plan emphasising four pillars: driving demand and activity; financing and funding; supply chain, skills and standards; and governance. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) administers grants and schemes. The budget levy on concrete, a major producer of greenhouse gases, was for accounting rather than environmental reasons. But climate impact assessment should have top priority by now. Regarding the Plan’s Enterprise commitment

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It’s the IT, BoI. By John Vivian Cooke.

by admin 30 May, 2022

It’s the IT, BoI Springsteen wasn’t Bank of Ireland’s only recent IT debacle. What is the point of Bank of Ireland? Exactly what, or who, is Bank of Ireland for? Certainly not for ordinary customers if they also happen to be Bruce Springsteen fans. On Friday, the bank’s app crashed just as tickets for the Boss’s RDS concert were released. Moreover, Bank of Ireland (BOI) is not for anyone who needs to complete any transaction face-to-face. About one third of BOI’s Irish branches were culled in 2021 – mostly in areas that already have poor access to banking hall services. And, even if you manage to find a branch that remains open, most staffed-cash-windows have been replaced with self-service teller machines. The cumulative effect of these changes is that most bank customers now obtain their money through digital channels. Payments are made through either websites or the mobile app that is provided by their bank. Banks have a financial incentive to deny customers access to branches and force them online regardless of customer preferences – it is far cheaper to provide day-to-day banking services to ordinary customers online than through physical bank branches. This is a deliberate strategy on the part of banks to make customers get their money through digital channels. Or, in the case of BOI customers, to try to get their money through digital channels. On Friday, BOI announced the latest interruption to its online services. Although disappointed music fans drew most attention on Twitter, in fact, all its retail customers were left without any access to their accounts through BOI’s mobile app. That announcement relied on the anodyne explanation that “some customers are experiencing difficulty accessing our app”. The reassurance that “our teams are working hard to resolve this as soon as possible” will have been little comfort to customers who were unable to complete transactions. In response to questions posed by Village, a BOI spokesperson explained that the interruption of service lasted two and half hours and was fixed later in the morning. The bank confirmed that the service was not overwhelmed by any surge of activity on its app, with the volume of transactions remaining at normal levels. Customers attempting to use the BOI app to buy tickets were the victims of an unfortunate but unrelated coincidence as: “(U)nfortunately the timing of the technical issue overlapped with when the Bruce Springsteen tickets went on sale”. The spokesperson extended the bank’s apology “for the inconvenience caused to customer as a result of the issue”. This carries the worrying implication that what occurred was just an ordinary banking failure – doing little to allay fears that BOI’s mobile app is unreliable even under normal conditions. At the time of publication, BOI had not commented when this suggestion was put to it. Neither had it replied when questioned if the crash represents a repeat of the contraventions identified in the settlement agreement concluded with the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) on 30 November 2021. Less than 6 months ago, BOI was fined €24.5 million and reprimanded for “breaches of its IT service continuity framework and related internal control failings”. Less than 6 months ago, BOI was fined €24.5 million and reprimanded for “breaches of its IT service continuity framework and related internal control failings”. In its statement, the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) explained that: “IT service continuity failings were repeatedly identified from 2008 onwards but…only started to be appropriately recognised and addressed in 2015”. The details of the settlement agreement outline that, from 2008 to 2015, and despite third-party contractors repeatedly drawing the bank’s attention to these deficiencies as critical problems, concerns about the resilience of the bank’s IT systems were not brought to the attention of the board or appropriate executive committees. For seven years BOI senior managers either did not know, or, were not told, that its creaking IT systems were incapable of ensuring “continuity of service in the event of significant IT disruption”. For seven years BOI senior managers either did not know, or, were not told, that its creaking IT systems were incapable of ensuring “continuity of service in the event of significant IT disruption”. It took a further four years for BOI to take steps to remedy the situation to the satisfaction of the CBI. As a result, “(F)rom 2008 until 2019, BOI was in breach of key regulatory provisions regarding IT service continuity”. It took a further four years for BOI to take steps to remedy the situation to the satisfaction of the CBI. As a result, “(F)rom 2008 until 2019, BOI was in breach of key regulatory provisions regarding IT service continuity”. The CBI’s Director of Enforcement and Anti-Money Laundering, Seána Cunningham, underlined the significance of these failings for ordinary people: “… IT disruptions, particularly if they were to happen in a bank, could have a very serious impact on millions of customers who rely on ready access to their funds and services to keep their everyday lives and businesses moving…given the ‘always on’ nature of the services BOI provides and how pivotal IT is to the entirety of its business operations”. It is now clear that the CBI was gravely mistaken in its assessment that BOI had the requisite “operational resilience designed to protect consumers and ensure financial stability”. The basis on which the settlement agreement was reached was, in part, that BOI had in place an adequate “runbook” (the plan to ensure the continued provision of critical services should an incident arise including procedures to begin, stop, supervise, test and restart a service/system) and “failover” (a redundancy procedure by which a system automatically transfers control to a duplicate system when it detects a fault or failure) capable of protecting customers. Friday’s debacle makes a mockery of the promise from Christine Hamill – who, without a trace of irony, holds the title of Director of

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Currency warfronts: Russia is spearheading a gold- and commodity-backed Ruble, while Central Banks accelerate digital currencies which, without protections, will give them unlimited power to monitor and control how we spend our money. By Eddie Hobbs.

by admin 13 May, 2022

Putin’s 9 May speech in Red Square came and went, without any new theatre opening up. This may indicate a change in strategy to limit the kinetic war to Donbas but he’s made it quite clear that, in his world view, the culpable protagonist, is NATO /USA. By moving away from military rhetoric his speech, along with threats to take “retaliatory steps, both of a military-technical and other nature” against NATO-bound Finland, shifts the focus in the conflict to the financial, economic and cyber security fields. If the West is at the end of a 50-year debt-financing bubble, the global financial system, largely of American design, is very vulnerable. That is why an interview on 26 April 26 in Rossiyskava Gazeta by one of Putin’s top strategists — the man who in 1999 replaced him as head of the FSB, Nikolai Patrushev — adds new heat to the boiling pot. Patrushev, who is Secretary to the Russian Federation’s Security Council, the inner sanctum chaired by Putin and which includes Lavrov, Medvedev and Mishustin, announced a fresh challenge to the US–dominated global financial system. Nikolai Patrushev Source; Spisok-Putina.Org The Kremlin determines the West’s weakest financial spot to be its debt bubble. In its eyes it is a West burdened by decades of debt excesses, now facing runaway inflation, supply chain disruption, and faltering consumer confidence. It sees the West’s Central Banks, led by the Fed and Bank of England, trying to perform a miracle U-turn — jacking up interest rates in a time of war without triggering recessions. This is Russia’s opportunity, as the Kremlin sees it, to lead a coalition of economic regions that strike a blow to USA pre-eminence and births a new currency system. Patrushev outlined Russia’s plans to head a multi-currency system pegged to gold and commodities and, he couldn’t have been clearer: “For any national financial system to be made sovereign its means of payment must have intrinsic value and price stability, without being pegged to the Dollar. Now experts are working on a project proposed by the scientific community to create a two-circuit monetary and financial system. In particular, it is proposed to determine the value of the Ruble, which should be backed by both gold and a group of goods that are currency values, and to put the Ruble exchange rate in line with the real purchasing power parity”. Patrushev’s interview was first reported in the West by Ronan Manly, a precious metals analyst and writer with Singapore-based, BullionStar. Since Nixon’s break from the gold standard, the US has built power from an endless demand for Dollars to finance trade and to attract inexpensive capital flows into US Treasuries, giving it a unique competitive advantage, one that US proponents see as open-ended, immutable, and an American birth right. But in announcing plans to head a global multi-currency system, starting in the Eurasian region and extending, through intensive co-operation to half the planet, Patrushev sees things very differently: we are clearly aware that the West allows other countries to be its partner only when it is profitable for it “The West has unilaterally appropriated an intellectual monopoly on the optimal structure of society and has been using it for decades… We are not opposed to a market economy and participation in global production chains, but we are clearly aware that the West allows other countries to be its partner only when it is profitable for it. Therefore, the most important condition for ensuring Russia’s economic security is to rely on the country’s internal potential, a structural adjustment of the national economy on a modern technological basis”. Though largely ignored in the West, Russia has pegged the Ruble to gold in trades between its Central Bank and its banking system — setting a floor at 5000 Rubles per gram. Though largely ignored in the West, Russia has pegged the Ruble to gold in trades between its Central Bank and its banking system — setting a floor at 5000 Rubles per gram. This twins the Ruble with gold, which is traded in US Dollars, while simultaneously Russia demanded Rubles for gas from opponents to its war in Ukraine. Based on Patrushev’s comments, which I believe are aimed squarely at commodity-exporting nations, the next likely step is to entice payments for Russian gas in gold, in an attempt to change the nature of international energy markets away from trading in Dollars. If successful, this could trigger a flow of gold into Russian reserves bolstering its currency-peg plans. This has the potential to damage the highly-leveraged paper gold markets and to start a contagion. Russia’s plans would ultimately require the removal of its exchange controls, which have pushed the Ruble to a two-year high against the Dollar. It would also require a post-war international agreement for commodity-backed currencies involving all participants including China, India, Iran, Latin America and Africa, if it were ever to be successful. In doing so Russia would face the double-edged sword Nixon faced when gold was demanded as payment for national debt instead of Dollars, due to sagging confidence in the US currency after it had borne the cost of the Vietnam War. Those who blindly follow the doctrine of US pre-eminence scoff at plans to restructure the global financial system, having heard it all before. What’s different this time, is the scale of debt being carried by the US and many Western economies while Central Banks, unnerved by breakaway inflation, raise borrowing rates in a desperate attempt to counteract inflation. What’s different this time, is the scale of debt being carried by the US and many Western economies while Central Banks, unnerved by breakaway inflation, raise borrowing rates in a desperate attempt to counteract inflation. If the tightening cycle, now entered into by the Fed, hobbles the US economy this year, a flip flop by the Fed, back to easing once again to avoid recession, would hobble the Fed itself. The truth is that, it is all finely poised. The advanced sign of an