Solidarity Books hosts a talk by Conor McCabe - "Ireland and the Shadow Banking System"

cork | miscellaneous | event notice Friday July 20, 2012 12:28 by Eric - WSM solidaritybooks at gmail dot com Solidarity Books, 43 Douglas Street, Opposite Fionn Barras, Cork City

On Thursday 26 July Solidarity Books will host "Ireland and the Shadow Banking System", a talk by Dr. Conor McCabe author of "Sins of the Father: Tracing the Decisions that Shaped the Irish Economy (2011)". Start time is 7pm. Hope to see you there.

Conor McCabe is a journalist and writer with the online publications Dublin Opinion and Irish Left Review. His specialities are economics and Irish politics.

Ireland and the Shadow Banking System.
A talk by Dr. Conor McCabe

There are almost 6,000 companies operating out of Ireland’s financial services centre, and they manage over €2 trillion in assets every year. Most of these companies exist in name only, and are used primarily as tax-avoidance vehicles by international finance. With 25,000 jobs (of which 9,000 are with Irish companies), and a corporation tax amount of less than half a billion euro a year, the IFSC consists of just over one per cent of the entire workforce and less than two per cent of total government income. It is at best a regional economy, an enclave on the Liffey - yet it is continually promoted as the saviour of the Irish economy and ‘the only game in town.’ Its protection by the State, however, has less to do with the national economy, and more to do with the nature of money, finance and power in Ireland today. This talk till try to throw a light on the dynamics of the IFSC, in particular the shadow banking system of which the IFSC is a hub, and will discuss the nature of Ireland’s ‘middleman’ capitalism which secures its wealth from its role as an intermediary between international finance and the resources of the Irish State.

Dr. Conor McCabe is a historian and author of Sins of the Father: Tracing the Decisions that Shaped the Irish Economy (Dublin, 2011). The economist and academic Dr. Tom O’Connor said in a review for the Irish Examiner that “the breadth and compass of the book is breath-taking. It is head and shoulders above the other books and is a tour de force as a critical economic history of Ireland.” The broadcaster Vincent Browne described Sins of the Father as ‘a remarkable book.’

Related links:

http://www.solidaritybooks.org/events/conor-mccabe-shad...nking

https://www.facebook.com/solidaritybooks

Dr. McCabe contact details:
Email: conormccabeis@gmail.com
Mobile: 087 219 1587
Solidarity Book Contact for comments/further information/photos: Cathal 0851387304
solidaritybooks@gmail.com