Education is paying the price for Anglo debts

The latest payment of €1.25 billion on the Anglo Irish Bank promissory notes has attracted an incredible outcry across the country.

This outcry is in theory justified because the people who invested in Anglo Irish Bank bonds were taking an investment risk.

The investment went bad, and many subsequently sold on the bonds to other investors at a loss. However, those more recent investors got the face value of those investments back this week and made a tidy profit in the process. Such behaviour is inconsistent with the notion of capitalism and is in theory wrong, because the taxpayers of the country have to pick up the bill for those bonds issued by Anglo Irish Bank, the proceeds of which were subsequently lent out to borrowers who have defaulted on the loans. In reality, the Government probably had little choice this week.