Ireland raids its peoples pension fund to pay for failed banks‏

The price extracted for money to bail out Ireland's failed banks is high. The Dublin government will have to raid its national pension fund andother cash reserves for €17.5bn as a condition of the deal to bail out its banks and debt-laden economy. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/nov/28/ireland-bailout-contribution-pensions

The unexpected contribution from Ireland was demanded at a hastily arranged meeting of the eurozone's finance ministers, who were desperate to secure a deal before the markets open tomorrow.

The package from the EU and International Monetary Fund includes €67.5bn of external loans. €10bn will go straight to the crippled banks, and €25bn is earmarked for bank support in the future. The remaining €50bn will be used to shore up the public finances and allow the government to keep making welfare payments and cover other expenses such as health and education.

But is there a shortage of money? Of course not money isn't gold, humans make money and governments own their currency. The European Central Bank could simply issue the money without debt.

Instead they prefer to shock the populations of Europe into accepting wages and living standards of those of our brothers and sisters in China. They want us to compete with the developing world by driving everyone to the bottom while the bankers continue to feast.