I hope I have this in the right place; this was aired last night and I am interested to hear what others thought of the programme. Nothing new from David McWilliams I suppose, although I thought the programme was well made and it would be hard to disagree with much of the material presented. One thing did grate with me though and that was the couple in Kentstown (never heard of the place before), moaning about their mortgage, childcare costs etc. A bit rich I thought considering the large house they were living in (certainly not first time buyer material) and the two large cars in the driveway (one an SUV)- "living beyond your means a little" came to mind. I just didn't feel they represented the average family who were living in a starter home in the commuter belt. Any takers?
Generation Game- David McWilliam's take on Irish economy
- Thread starter Carpenter
- Start date
- Status
ubiquitous
Registered User
- Messages
- 3,782
Were you living in a cave when the school bus tragedy happened in Kentstown a few years ago?
No.
Did he preempt his ongoing doom and gloom mantra with an apology to the people who listened to his drivel, in the late nineties and for several years thereafter, about property prices having reached their peak?
G
Guest111
Guest
This programme could have been made in 2000, 2002, 2005 or 2007...I like McWilliams but his credibility is shot. He IS the guy with the sandwich board saying "The End is Nigh".
yes the exact same comments were made in my house!
Ms Pencil skirt i could identify with though having looked at houses shown by folks like her! I would say that comparing Uraguay and Ireland was very wide of the mark.
I believe it was supposed to represent 2 high earning professionals not the average couple. The point was that 2 high earners are stuck in Meath, priced out of the Dublin market. If they can't afford in a reasonable suburb of Dublin how can an average couple possiblely afford anything.
The part I liked most was they way he let that independent EA from Sherry Fitz hang himself. He really looked like a fat cat idiot. His comments seemed to indicate he was completely detacted from reality. I wonder how many EA's they interviewed and discarded before they found that gem.
I was surprised at his involvement in the programme really.
I thought it was to represent average couple also. IMO Folks choose to move to Kentstown so they can still shop in Blanch and keep this "standard"
I did not agree, he told us how he made his money end of. They only thing i laughed at was that he said Mullingar was fairly underdeveloped - which unfortunately is true if the planners have "great plans"....
comparing us to Uraguay - yes i think he is wrong. We have the added advantage of being near centres of employment - 5 hours from NY 1 hour from London etc. Also we have folks all round the world who would love to buy a cheap house at "home" and happily use it as a holiday home - In my own family 2 uncles have vacant houses here and visit once a year. If house prices drop to the predicted 50k then these folks will come out of the woodwork i would say.
The only real concern i have is that we are not investing enough in the people who will have to go abroad if there is a bust. the education system is weak and they are talking about bringing back university fees so even less folks will have a degree to go abroad with.
The only real concern i have is that we are not investing enough in the people who will have to go abroad if there is a bust. the education system is weak and they are talking about bringing back university fees so even less folks will have a degree to go abroad with.
Mullingar hasn't seen a lot of new house development due to problems with the inadequate sanitary services available up until now, so it is probably prime for development in the future.
Abbeykiller
Registered User
- Messages
- 45
The beauty of spouting economic theories like these is that there is no wrong and right or black and white. When things are very good they will inevitably get worse and when things are very bad they will definitely get better. The question is when will it happen, how long it will take, how bad will the downturn be etc. So in fact he hasn't been wrong previously merely 'out with his timing' !!
in that case what he was saying was true and he will make more money ouf og folks who get a bargain 4 bed detached in Mullingar instead of 2/3 bed terrace in the city for the same
That's very true but if 9/11 or the dot com bust hadn't happened or until recently the German continued slump then world interest rates wouldn't have been get at artificially low levels for so. It would have been very difficult to predict all 3 of these events and low interest rates and the world credit bubble are the main reasons the Irish property market kept going. World interest rates are now on the increase with the rise of inflation, the credit bubble has come to a crashing end and the world property market will not be able to defy gravity any longer. Just as the World property market was inflated by these external factors the reverse of the factors will do the opposite.
Plus ca change, plus la meme chose from McWilliams.
Encore de smugness
Encore de taking the p*** out of ordinary folk
Encore de statements of the obvious
Encore de stupid labelling of "types" - he must be at self-parody at this stage
Pas de solutions or advice.
It was interesting viewing though (complete with, by now, obligatory re-enforcing soundtrack), just so many grating moments detracting from his points. His enthusiasm for only 1 view of the world damages his credibility a bit also.
Even he even said something like - "Now is the time for this younger generation to tighten their belts, pay down their debt, upskill if they are in manufacturing jobs or perhaps even consider selling now and seeking a better quality of life abroad". Well then there'd be something to consider, something to debate. As it was all you were encouraged to do was say "ahhh, we're all f*****, theres no escape!", & pull the covers over your head.
Encore de smugness
Encore de taking the p*** out of ordinary folk
Encore de statements of the obvious
Encore de stupid labelling of "types" - he must be at self-parody at this stage
Pas de solutions or advice.
It was interesting viewing though (complete with, by now, obligatory re-enforcing soundtrack), just so many grating moments detracting from his points. His enthusiasm for only 1 view of the world damages his credibility a bit also.
Even he even said something like - "Now is the time for this younger generation to tighten their belts, pay down their debt, upskill if they are in manufacturing jobs or perhaps even consider selling now and seeking a better quality of life abroad". Well then there'd be something to consider, something to debate. As it was all you were encouraged to do was say "ahhh, we're all f*****, theres no escape!", & pull the covers over your head.
M
Moggy
Guest
There is definitely a hint of scaremongering in his program. He does very little to try and put peoples minds at ease other than to say if we are smart we can get through this. No doubt in 10 years time if things work out he'll be saying I told you we could get through it. One very obvious thing which I feel he should have pointed out throughout his program is that a drop in house prices will not affect the majority of people. The only people it affects are investors. If your house is worth €1million or €200K it makes no difference, your mortgage will still be the same. Even if you want to move home, ok your house is now only worth €200K but at the same time the home you are buying will also have gone down by the same amount.
The credit crunch, property bubble, multinationals pulling out, to me this is a well over due wake up call for Ireland. People these days do not work for their money. Time to pull your socks up, if you want to keep driving that BMW you're going to have to earn it.
The credit crunch, property bubble, multinationals pulling out, to me this is a well over due wake up call for Ireland. People these days do not work for their money. Time to pull your socks up, if you want to keep driving that BMW you're going to have to earn it.
It won't affect the majority of people but more than just investors can be affected. If I bought a home for 300k and now it's only worth 200k, it doesn't really matter what price the house I want to trade up to is, since I probably won't be able to afford it anyway.
Of course if he posted here he would accuse us of burying our heads in the sand. Mrs ninsaga gave me a call last night when it started - I was able to tell here what he was gonna say in terms of us all being screws at this stage so we might as well call it a dy now & go to China & work for a bowl of rice a day.
He's becomming a bit spent now - sort like Eddie Hobbs is.
As far as I can see DMcW just wants people to buy his books.
Enough!
He's becomming a bit spent now - sort like Eddie Hobbs is.
As far as I can see DMcW just wants people to buy his books.
Enough!
- Status