1. Economic Recovery
Deflation or expansion
Cutting public expenditure and investment
Cutting wages
Imposing increased taxes on low-average
income groups
Cutting consumption

2. The Imperative to Expand
We need a stimulus programme – a ‘smart
stimulus’ to do a number of things:
Rescue our banking sector
Address our infrastructural deficiencies
Maintain wages, income and consumer
spending
Retool our indigenous enterprise base

3. Mobilising the Resources
Low overall debt and access to Central Bank
and Pension Reserve Funds
Wealthy asset base
Public Expenditure Reform
Exploiting accumulated and current savings

4. First: Rescue our Banks
Bring the Irish banking sector into public
ownership
Use either ‘good’ bank or ‘bad’ bank
proposals to purge the system of toxic assets
Redesign the banking architecture according
to economic need
Recapitalise through the Pension Reserve
Fund

5. Second: Address Physical Infrastructure
Defects
Physical infrastructure – Ireland ranks 64th in
the world
Road, Rails, Telecommunications, Electricity
National Spatial Strategy
New Green Deal
Urban Regeneration

6. Second: Address Social Infrastructure
Defects
European only in name
Education (No Child Left Behind)
Primary Health Care in the Community
Pension Guarantees

7. Third: Wages, Income, Spending
A wage deal fit for purpose (flat-rate, local
bargaining)
Improve social welfare incomes (pay-related)
Consumer Vouchers
Targeted VAT reductions

8. Fourth: Saving Jobs, Retooling
Enterprises
Redundancy Avoidance Schemes (short-time,
career breaks)
Solidarity Pact – democratic partnerships at firm and
sectoral level
Employers: guaranteed credit, sterling stabilisation
fund, access to equity
Employees: right to collective bargaining, family-
friendly work practices, participation in decision-
making

9. Fourth: Saving Jobs, Retooling
Enterprises
Rescue firms through public equity, public-
private partnership, public enterprises
Key to maintaining our export sector base
Key to upgrading in anticipation of eventual
international recovery

10. Conclusion
Recessions are marked by lack of money and
activity
Taking money out, depressing activity is the
wrong way to address collapse
Inject money, investment, jobs, activity into
the economy – in those areas and activities
that you will need once the recession is over