European Debt Crisis and Links to our Global South work

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European Debt Crisis and Links to our Global
South work
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Socialised Banking Debt

• Ireland
• Socialised banking debt 64 billion
• Committed to 6 Irish banks
• Troika deficit reduction 3.5 2013 (2.2/GDP)
  3.1 billion 2014 2 billion 2015
•  

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Grassroots solutions being proposed?

• Political proposals
• suspension of payments on Anglo
• lost that campaign (Feb)
• now shifting to a Pan-European focus demanding 3
  things

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3 Demands (draft)

• 1. We can still save approx 25 billion
• Non payment of anglo bonds
• no payment of interest no selling them on to
  the international markets write down the  25
  billion

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We want the 40 billion back

• How to get the 40 billion back?
• Non-payment of remaining bonds with our banks
• Levy on the financial sector as a whole (as
  bondholders cannot be identified)

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Future

• 3. End debt crises
• - Future deposit / insurance scheme for the
  banking sector in Europe to they pay for their
  crises in future

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Debt write-down/compensation

• How?
• either through unilateral action
• or through a debt conference style approach (ala
  London Debt Accord) focusing on sovereign,
  business and household debt
• Each country should identify what is legitimate
  and what is not, through audits or other methods

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Tactics so far.

• Emphasis has been on grassroots education,
  explaining the debt
• Media focus
• Petition signing
• Have supported huge trade union mobilisations but
  their political position has been unclear.

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Tactics so far.

• What worked?
• accessible education
• media early on when no journalist understood it.
  Now media blackout  
• But big challenges.
• scale is a big problem
• Re-fashioning social movements in Ireland
• ( no resources. Small groups of dedicated
  activists)

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Link with Global South?

• We draw from examples of illegitimate debt, debt
  audits, unjust policy conditions and debt
  cancellation in the global south.
• Are calling for new system - justice for the
  global South, Europe as well as Ireland
• But still no coherent global call to justice for
  people who have / are paying back illegitimate
  debts.

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Proposals?

• Analysis
• Research that focuses on both Europe and GS
• Analysis of financial system not only specific
  debts
• Collective solutions (eg re funding of
  cancellation and compensation / reparations needs
  to be looked at collectively)
• Organising
• Common communications message / call to justice
• Interlinked / mirroring campaigns

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