Brian Cowen ranked top ten leader by Newsweek

Newsweek says Prime Minister ‘has won serious respect’

CATHY HAYES,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Thursday, August 19, 2010, 8:10 AM

Updated Thursday, August 26, 2010, 1:54 PM

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Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen

Newsweek have just published a list of the top ten international leaders who "have managed to win serious respect". Brian Cowen comes in at fifth place and is named "The Fiscal Taskmaster".

According to article, "Go to the Head of the Class", the Irish people have a lot to be thankful for. The author of the short piece, William Underhill said that "Ireland's once -roaring economy" has been "staggered by the banking crisis".

He comments that unemployment is now at 13 percent (it is in fact slightly higher), that emigration is rising and money markets rank Ireland just behind Greece in the list of European losers. However, Underhill focuses on the fact that Prime Minister Brian Cowen and Finance Minister, Brian Lenihan "are prescribing harsh medicine."

He said "They've pushed through austerity packages drastic enough to win the admiration of the international community, raised taxes, and slashed some public salaries by more than 10 percent." But, Underhill comments that "the Irish aren't showing much gratitude".

At last count Cowen's rating with the Irish people was down to just 18 percent and the Fianna Fail party are expected to have a tough race in the 2012 elections.

Underhill seems to think that there will be a positive outcome to the tough love that Cowen has been prescribing. He says "Irish consumer confidence is on the rise again, and the economy notched up modest growth in the first quarter of 2010."

The Newsweek Rankings -

1.The Ambitious Newcomer: David Cameron
2.The Green Guru: Mohamed Nasheed
3.The Loved-Abroad-Hated-At-Home: Nicolas Sarkozy
4.The Man of the People: Wen Jiabao
5.The Fiscal Taskmaster: Brian Cowen
6.The Lion in Winter: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
7.The CEO-in-Charge: Lee Myung-Bak
8.The Rebuilder: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
9.The Reformer: King Abdullah
10.The Middle Man: Lee Hsien Loong
11.The Future King Midas: Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj

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pacifist | Nov 23, 2010, 10:14 AM EST

Recent events now expose how far out that assessment of Brian Cowen was. The last time Ireland had a trade surplus was in 1997 and it was in that condition the Fine Gael/Labour/Democratic Left Government handed the economy over to Fianna Fail and the many junior partners in running the country. See how they've destroyed the country!

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jacersisityourself | Aug 20, 2010, 06:36 PM EDT

Sunny - the Irish electorate voted in Cowen, Ahern, McCreevy et al in the last few elections. They rejected the policies of the other parties. Take up yr points with them, not me.

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Sunnyside | Aug 20, 2010, 05:24 AM EDT

jacersisityourself - Well at least your ok and have money, that's the important thing. Who cares about the 100,000 young graduates who have had to emigrate thanks to the stewardship of Cowen, Ahern, McCreevy et al. This is the 2nd time in 30 years that Fianna Fail have bankrupt the country, and you still cant see their faults. Another prime example of a short-sighted me feiner fianna fail voter! Hope you enjoy spending your money; I'll probably meet your kids over here in Australia scouring for work like the countless others of us. Thanks. Your unfloundering support for FF has served your country well.

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Watchman | Aug 20, 2010, 05:04 AM EDT

Ireland is in grave economic difficulties, and it was Brian Cowen and his cronies who got us there – with the help, needless to say, of Wall Street and the City of London. the Taoiseach was not alone in getting things wrong. Most leaders were bamboozled. But few got things as badly wrong as the well-upholstered man from Offaly. Cowen, as finance minister, misread events. He believed (no doubt sincerely) that the good times would roll forever. This suggests either an intellectual deficiency – which I doubt – or a willful refusal to learn from history and prepare properly for the future. Since 2008, as Taoiseach, he has reversed the very policies that were supposed to enable us to overtake Denmark and even Luxembourg to become the richest country per capita in the European Union. This was the correct response, drastic though it has proved for the plain people of Ireland, but does not absolve him from his original, and catastrophic, error. All that said, the people have to take their licks as well. We all loved it when we were told we were rich. We began to swank around. We even took guilty pleasure in the knowledge that there were big Irish beasts out there who had exploited and defrauded the system to make themselves multi-millionaires, even billionaires. Irish farmers buying up apartments in Manhattan? Fanstastic! Former civil servants landing their helicopters at the racecourse? Brilliant. We were up there. We had arrived. Well, now the bailiffs have moved in and it's payback time – which, as we all know, is a bitch. And the fact that a few hundred thousand people have a few grand still tucked away, courtesy of the "generous" decisions of the pre-crisis days, doesn't take away from the fact that Ireland is in hock and that it will take years, even decades, for us to repay what's owed. But good luck to us. We'll get there in the end.

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jacersisityourself | Aug 19, 2010, 08:50 PM EDT

Sunnyside – get yr sunny side back into reality. The Facts are that Brian Cowen was tutored into being Finance Minister by his predecessor, Charlie McCreevy. It seems everybody forgets that good oul’ Charlie introduced a scheme, widely by praised by the World Bank and other financial experts at the booming Celtic Tiger time, whereby, if you saved a certain amount, you would get a 25% top-up guaranteed. “It’s Pay-Back time”, Charlie said. In other words, as a taxpayer, I would get my investment returns back from myself as would my fellow taxpayer savers. The object of the exercise was to stop huge inflation of prices that speculators swarmed into. It worked; it stopped bleeders profiteering. As a small saver, I got my 25% return, never mind my bank’s interest return on top of that. Yep, Brian Cowen is a good Taoiseach for Ireland, and his student Finance Minister Brian Lenihan makes it work. And I still have my 25% bonus to spend when and where I choose and see fit, like thousands of others in Ireland. I’m a small investor, big charity fella. I’m one of thousands and thousands in the same position.... Who said there’s no money in Ireland? D’ya think I’d swallow a conman’s words?? Neither would Brian Cowen – just look at that photo of him posted above... on behalf of Ireland, and me, he’s forcefully saying “I’ve no time for crap talk”. No wonder he’s in the top five leaders of the world.

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irishwxman | Aug 19, 2010, 12:20 PM EDT

While I obviously disagree, at least they didn't put Obama's sorry ass up there.

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Sunnyside | Aug 19, 2010, 09:55 AM EDT

Why on earth would the "Irish show much gratitude"? This man was the Minister for Finance in the lead into the disaster Ireland is now facing. Even today Royal Bank of Scotland has announced today it is pulling out of Ireland with all the resulting job losses and the Irish people are meant to be grateful. If this man chose to put the country first as opposed to his corrupt populist party then maybe the country wouldn’t be in the mess it is in. Brian Cowen 09/14/09 " let me tell you the principles that have guided me on that journey since my first election 25 years ago – Loyalty to the party" What about loyalty to the country Brian???

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