There is a whiff of irony about the upcoming referendum in Ireland on the European fiscal compact treaty. On the one hand it would seem that a yes vote is an endorsement of an even closer link between Ireland and its EU partners. But events in Europe in recent days, and in the next few days, could well send signals to the effect that the kind of fiscal discipline, indeed austerity, that such a compact would entail, is not going down well with voters elsewhere and that austerity itself is causing more harm than good in a hard time.
This from Paul Krugman in the New York Times: ............"the failure of austerity policies to deliver as promised has long been obvious. Yet European leaders spent years in denial, insisting that their policies would start working any day now, and celebrating supposed triumphs on the flimsiest of evidence.
"Notably, the long-suffering (literally) Irish have been hailed as a success story not once but twice, in early 2010 and again in the fall of 2011. Each time the supposed success turned out to be a mirage; three years into its austerity program, Ireland has yet to show any sign of real recovery from a slump that has driven the unemployment rate to almost 15 percent."
Krugman continued: "Something has changed in the past few weeks. Several events - the collapse of the Dutch government over proposed austerity measures, the strong showing of the vaguely anti-austerity François Hollande in the first round of France's presidential election, and an economic report showing that Britain is doing worse in the current slump than it did in the 1930s - seem to have finally broken through the wall of denial. Suddenly, everyone is admitting that austerity isn't working. The question now is what they're going to do about it. And the answer, I fear, is: not much."
Whether voters in the Republic fall in line with this prophecy remains to be seen.
DANCES WITH WORDS
Montana governor Brian Schweitzer was in Donegal recently getting in touch with his Irish roots which may well have a link somewhere to Blarney because the man sure has a turn of phrase.
He was included in a fascinating New York Times report last week on the reintroduction of wild Bison in the state where so many Irish settled in the 19th century.
Reported the Times: "Around a century ago some Yellowstone bison contracted disease from domestic livestock and in recent decades thousands have been slaughtered in an effort to protect ranchers' herds. At the direction of Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana, a few of these bison were quarantined for years and certified healthy. Some may soon go to the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, about 170 miles west of Fort Peck, pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by opponents."
Said Schweitzer of his decision: "I took a lot of arrows for this, but it was the right thing to do. If you want to get into a fistfight in Montana, go into a bar and share your opinion about bison or wolves."
TIMELY BOOK
A book to pick up this week is "Seal Target Geronimo," by Chuck Pfarrer. It's subtitled "The Inside Story Of The Mission To Kill Osama Bin Laden." That mission took place a year ago today, May 2. Tempus etc. Pfarrer is well placed to pen such a tome. He is a former "assault element commander" for Seal Team Six.
