Ryanair on Sunday called on the Board of Aer Lingus to explain why Aer Lingus’ CEO Dermot Mannion has recently been granted “an indefensible and unprecedented” €2.8 million lifeboat ‘Failure Bonus’, if Aer Lingus undergoes a change of control. The Aer Lingus Chairman Colm Barrington is reported to have said the arrangement is “perfectly normal.”

Irish manufacturing PMI data for December data signalled another considerable deterioration of operating conditions. Output fell sharply and jobs were cut at a survey-record rate. Output charge deflation was signalled as competitive pressures intensified.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 34% in 2008  — its worst year since 1931. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index finished down 38% for 2008 - - its worst year since 1937. Ireland’s ISEQ fell 66% - - the worst performance since the Irish Stock Exchange was founded in 1793.

Irish Economy 2009: While South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who had been nicknamed the “bulldozer,” had transmuted into a political blancmange within months of taking office, Ireland’s Brian Cowen, whose bulldozing style had won the acclaim of journalists, who should have known better, has had even a worst fate. Barring a remarkable transformation, in the brutal year ahead, Cowen is destined to copper-fasten his reputation as the most inept Irish leader in modern times. In the absence of significant reform in response to the economic crisis, there will be new dawns proclaimed to soften public anger. However, we set out some benchmarks below to sift substance from spin and spoof.

The US Conference Board Consumer
Confidence Index, which had increased moderately in November,
declined to a new all-time low in December - - the lowest level
since records began in 1967. The Index now stands at 38.0
(1985=100), down from 44.7 in November. The Present Situation Index
plummeted to 29.4 from 42.3 last month. The Expectations Index
decreased to 43.8 from 46.2 in November.

S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices: Data through October 2008, released today by Standard & Poor’s for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, shows continued broad based declines in the prices of existing single family homes across the United States, with 14 of the 20 metro areas showing record rates of annual decline and 14 now reporting declines in excess of 10% versus October 2007. Phoenix reports an annual drop of 32.7%, followed by Las Vegas, down 31.7%, and San Francisco down 31.0%.

The IMF (International Monetary Fund) said on Monday that tax cuts in response to global slowdown should favour spenders not savers and it called for big spending measures.

Dublin’s Grafton Street has overtaken London and
Tokyo to take a top 5 position in the ranking of the world’s most expensive
shopping streets.

 Irish Trade: Seasonally adjusted imports fell by 3% in October relative to September 2008. Exports from the multinational sector in particular, held steady. Relative to July 2008, imports fell by 14% over the three months to October 2008. Exports rose 2% over the same period. On an unadjusted basis, the value of imports in October 2008 was down 18% on October 2007, while the value of exports was down 3%. The value of imports in September 2008 was down 8%, while the value of exports was up 1% on September 2007, the CSO reported today.

Asia-Pacific Business and Finance
News: Toyota Motor shocked markets on Monday with a warning that it would suffer its first loss
in 71 years, as the worldwide
recession hits car makers besides the
embattled Big 3 in the United States; Japan announced November exports plunged
26.7% and in South Korea, sales on the national drink Soju are soaring.