Irish Bailout…Of German & French Banks

The Wall Street Journal says European taxpayers deserve clarity on just who benefited from the ‘Irish bailout.’ “It was the creditors of Ireland’s banks, not Irish taxpayers, who have received the benefit of, first, the Irish government’s bank guarantees and, more recently, the EU’s aid package. Irish taxpayers themselves have already shelled out more than €50 ($69) billion to keep their banks’ creditors whole, and they’re likely to need billions more to keep covering their losses. At this time last year, according to the Bank for International Settlements, German and French banks alone held some €45 ($62) billion in bonds from Ireland’s banks.”