Ratings agencies ranked low
by Bernard Harbor
 
Kevin said that national debts would have to be repaid in the long term, but putting this ahead of investment in jobs and services would be “wholly unacceptable to the millions of people who have weathered the first coronavirus storm.
Kevin said that national debts would have to be repaid in the long term, but putting this ahead of investment in jobs and services would be “wholly unacceptable to the millions of people who have weathered the first coronavirus storm.

The repayment of national debt incurred on foot of the coronavirus crisis can’t take precedence over investment in economic reconstruction, social solidarity and the creation of jobs capable of sustaining decent living standards.

 

That’s according to Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan, whose Irish Times letter supporting president Michael D Higgins’s recent criticism of international ratings agencies was published this week.

 

The ratings agencies are private companies that assess the credit-worthiness of nations and other borrowers. Their judgements pushed borrowing costs up in the aftermath of the 2008 banking crisis – so much so that Ireland and a small number of other countries couldn’t borrow, and were forced into ‘austerity’ agreements with the Troika.

 

But Kevin said the world economy was now in a fundamentally different place.

 

“Then, a relatively small number of countries faced major fiscal crises. Today, virtually every country in Europe and across the globe has correctly spent billions to contain the Covid-19 pandemic and to deal with its immediate health and economic impacts,” he wrote.

 

“In 2008 and after, elected politicians lived in fear of the ratings agencies while commentators hung upon their every word. Today, a very broad range of economists, commentators and decision-makers have rightly called for an entirely different public policy response, at national and international level,” he said.

 

Kevin said national debts would have to be repaid in the long term, but putting this ahead of investment in jobs and services would be “wholly unacceptable to the millions of people who have weathered the first coronavirus storm – with its bereavement, illness, worry, social disruption, and economic hardship.”

 

“The ratings agencies that have had a disproportionate influence on our lives and livelihoods are answerable to nobody. President Higgins is quite right to say they should play no part in the global response to the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

 

It’s never been more important – or more easy – to get the protections and benefits of union membership. Join Fórsa HERE or contact us HERE.

LikeLike (0) | Facebook Twitter