It might seem strange for a member of the Republican Party to be suggesting that patriotism cannot be exercised north of the Border. After all, isn't the most patriotic thing to buy Irish-made goods wherever they are sold (and, preferably, at the cheapest prices), especially when the retailer down South may be foreign-owned?
Those cash-conscious *patriots* south of the border are actually still supporting their fellow Irish, by popping up to buy their Jamesons in Newry and Belfast, surely?
We're still a little while off that fabled all-Ireland economy yet, methinks.
8 comments:
Ridiculous rubbish from a minister who's government has its pulse so far off the mark.
Herself is dragging me up north soon enough to avail of the cheap food and drink. Sure they even take Euros.
Is it asda that do those 4 packs of English ale..
Just go online and shop where ever you want and whatever you want. (www.1001webshops.com)
Does anyone else see the irony in the hordes of Southern shoppers coming to places like Newry, Enniskillen and Strabane to shop? How many thousands of jobs in the border towns are now dependent on that trade? If partition ended tomorrow they'd have no reason to head north and millions of pounds would be lost to the economy of those areas. So what incentive would someone working in The Quays in Newry, who is probably a Nationalist by instinct have in seeking to end partition? Isn't the lesson here is that if you're part of a large economy with the freedom to set your own tax rates, you can enjoy a lower rate of tax than a small economy? You don't suppose SF and the SDLP have ever thought that through do you???
It's all quite ironic, isn't it?
Tim
DU
Complete ignorance. You are discussing an arbitrage gain. No real wealth is created, you are simply taking advantage of a temporary price fluctuation that will be brought back into balance over the long term, and quite possibly in short order. Moreover, it is quite possible for the imbalance to begin running the other way for a time, and it has done so in the past.
So what's your prescription then Kensei? If what you say is right and it tips the other way then how do you suggest we replace the retail jobs that would be lost? And this hasn't just happened because of the recent VAT changes North and South. People have been complaining for some time about "Rip Off Ireland," recent events have exacerbated the situation but they didn't create it.
I am not lying. This is the nature of arbitrage. the one factor I'm not sure of is how tax differences play into it. If prices are too high South of the border, then jobs will be lost, wages will be depressed, suppliers will be squeezed harder and eventually equilibrium will be reached. Currency places its part too, but what we've had is essentially a bit of a devaluation of the pound. That will be a temporary too, and you'll eventually tend toward purchasing power parity. Any productivity gains made in the South will probably be permanent.
My advice: if you are from the South, enjoy it while you can. If you are a business in the North, enjoy the higher receipts. Just don't build any long term plans on it. Or gloat. That would be silly.
Kensei I certainly feel that in the medium to long run this will be good for the Republic's economy if retailers take action to make themselves more competitive. In the boom years retailers jacked up the prices and because people were flush with cash they didn't mind the extravagence, now people are watching the pennies and the fat cats are crying the loudest. A few weeks ago I heard on the Matt Cooper Show a comment from a woman who had bought dental floss while on holiday in New York for $1.85. She noticed that the floss was made in Ireland and when she got home she found a box of the same dental floss on sale for E4.99! It was way cheaper despite the costs of shipping it across the Atlantic, that sort of profiteering is bordering on extortion. Can you really blame Southern shoppers not wanting to be fleeced? So instead of wrapping himself in the flag, Brian Lenihan would be better placed taking action against the rip off merchants and getting the South's retail sector into fighting shape and maybe then it will be the Northern retailers who'll be complaining.
By the way my original post was meant to be tongue in cheek but probably didn't come across in the way that it should have!
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