Please feel free to add your comments/ suggestions, concerns and correct me if I have anything wrong. However, no jargon is allowed.

The government is spending your money –  and gambling with your children’s future – so you have a right to have your voice heard. Please comment.

The questions:
1. Form: Why is NAMA a commercial entity? This lacks transparency and accountability…not open to scrutiny by public or journalists.

SPVs are dodgy accountancy vehicles used by Enron and Worldcom to hide funds. At their most basic, they just move numbers from a public spreadsheet to one that’s encrypted with a password. Has a Wizard of Oz feel to it: “Don’t look behind that curtain, there’s nothing there”. This does not really give you confidence in their overall purpose does it? International investors will not be fooled.

The shares in these SPVs will be held by 49% by NAMA and 51% private investors. So, who will own the majority shareholding of the SPVs – banks, pension funds, developers – and will their interests be in the public interest? Doubtful. A potential conflict of interest? Most certainly.

2. Valuations: prices to be paid by government for bad bank loans is out of whack with reality and it increases the risk of reinflating the property bubble. As a commercial entity, it seems strange that NAMA would buy property at more than it’s worth. It’s a bit like a business owner going into an auto showroom, looking at price tag and saying: “I’ll pay you 30% over the sales price” for that transit van. It does not make commercial sense.

3. Risk sharing: this is the really scary thing. The risk is still on us, the taxpayers – not on the risk aware shareholders who bought the stocks or the experienced bondholders – who were unaware of the gamble they were taking by electing a government who “looked the other way” when developers, business people and bankers were gambling BIG MONEY using risky derivatives called CFDs. Our regulator was like Homer Simpson at the controls of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant.. snoring away. (See Lessons from the D’Oh School of Economics” on this blog)

4. Cost: a huge burden is being placed on every taxpayer to fund this open-ended money pit. Our services will be cut and our children forced to emigrate – once again – to find work. Is it really worth the price? There ARE other, quicker, ways to get the economy moving.

5. Transparency: Where is it? Nama is getting muddier, and more complex, by the day. If you can’t explain something clearly then it’s possible you’re either trying to hide something or do not understand it yourself. Either way, it’s not a good governance strategy.

6. Time: will it take a generation to unwind? What does that mean for our health as a nation?

7. Teeth/ Consequences:  will Nama take a tough enough line on valuations and developers? This is crucial. Will any property developer, banker go to jail, go broke, etc. as a result of NAMA actions.

8. Money, money, money: the banks do not have enough money in the coffers, or capital. What capital ratios are banks are obliged to have now and in the future? (The capital ratio is the percentage of a bank’s cash on hand to its risk-weighted assets, or the stuff they have that can be converted into cash.)

9. Future funding: Will Nama lead to a large shareholding in the main banks if they can’t raise private equity? They have no cash.

10. Cash flow: The biggest question of all – since it’s the purpose of Nama – how EXACTLY will it lead to more money flowing to businesses?

11. Supervision: Who will set and monitor the costs for running NAMA – including consultants’ professional fees – to ensure value for money, transparency, accountability? Will it be the Comptroller & Auditor General, Irish accountancy firms or independent international audit companies?

12. Stability: will NAMA force banks to split in two – commercial and investment – to ensure no bank is “too big to fail” ever again? A purely commercial bank focuses on consumers’ needs and ensures good lending practices. Investment banks can take all risks – and the consequences good and bad – without jeopardising the economy.

Paul A. Volker, former Federal Reserve chairman who is also one of the architects of Obama’s economic strategies thinks this is essential for the recovery and stability of the US financial system.

13. Control: Will NAMA give the government more, or less, control? The government is seems currently unable to force bankers, developers to pay back funds, face criminal charges, hand back bonuses… so will NAMA give them more control over those issues than partial, short-term nationalisation?

14. Future stability: In future, will banks be forced to save a certain percentage of all deposits/ funds in their coffers (“fractional reasoning” – usually 13%) before they invest/loan the rest? Usually, when they take in €100 they keep €13 rainy day money and loan out of invest the €87. At height of boom they lent/ invested ALL of it, leaving the vaults empty. Now they are borrowing money so they have something in the vaults when the government, and international observers, comes for a look-see.

15. Regulation: Will NAMA suggest new regulations to ensure this mess cannot happen again? Is this in its remit or will lessons be lost due to “gagging” clause?

US regulators may be given power to take over failing firms that pose a risk to the entire financial system and unwind the firm’s derivatives contracts, pay the parties less than what they’re owed, or transfer the contracts to another, healthy financial firm.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/03/new-too-big-to-fail-bill_n_343818.html

16. Accountability: why aren’t the boards of the banks gone? Will NAMA have any power to force out those who were on boards at time of reckless lending? Why are we still funding Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide? They are not of systemic importance to the economy.

17. Conflicts of interest: the people needed to do the NAMA job are property, banking and legal experts yet they have the most to gain. How can conflicts of interest be avoided?

Interesting issues raised by others:
Complexity: Hugely complex project management/ organisation challenge faces Nama valuers: http://www.garrymiley.com/2009/07/31/WhatIsTheStars.aspx

Secrecy/ Gagging clause: “hope you cover the clause forbidding NAMA from criticising govt. A corollary of blasphemy prohibition?!” From a tweet to @marklittlenews.

Please add your views here….

 The combined forces of slashed communications budgets, job cuts and a renewed focus on the competition have many firms in a panic looking for the next cost-effective tool. But, it’s like your mother always said: “Would you jump off a bridge just because John is doing it?”

Checking the top and bottom togs
Blogging is a simple, inexpensive way to share information with colleagues and employees. The author simply types up the message, posts it online and readers take a look. Blog messages can be top-down (nothing to do with convertible cars) or bottom-up (definitely not associated with after work drinks).

Internally, executives often use top-down blogs to communicate strategy, announcements or company status and to build team spirit within an organisation. Bottom-up messages are more community spirited and can be written by anyone from managers and project coordinators to new recruits. 

When done properly, blogs can actually replace the thousands of screaming “urgent” and “important” emails that employees ignore each day. Ideally, in-house blogs are a corporate collective brain housing memories of experiences, events, lessons learned, successes, failures and general information.  

Blogs have many benefits — from project management, team building and communication to idea development and knowledge sharing — but they need to be developed using realistic strategic thinking.

Hot or cold audience?
Corporate culture is a very specific thing. It trickles down from the top and is often based on leaders’ personalities: formal/ informal, jargon-happy or straight-talking, conservative or experimental, old or young, technology competent or newbie.

Leaders who are secretive, formal and unwilling to share details on the inner workings of the organisation are unsuitable candidates for a blog. Blogs should be open, honest, interactive conversations that invite comment. They’re more like a roundtable discussion than a passive lecture.

Shallow or deep purpose?
Good communications have specific objectives and blogs are no exception. They can be a short, sharp information tool. This might include a blog that reports – in an interesting way – on the progress of a short-term project or goal. Or it could be a HR blog that acts as an internal bulletin board or the “what’s on?” section of a newspaper. However, these blogs will struggle to attract repeat readers unless they are written in an entertaining way and provide information that’s important to the audience.

Deeper blogs need short, medium and long-term goals. Maybe a newly appointed CEO needs to raise her internal profile or a manager needs to bring together diverse teams?  Blogs like this must be carefully planned and constructed to ensure they get results.

Taking the plunge: top tips
1. Know the blog’s purpose. Internal corporate blogs should be linked to specific corporate strategic goals. Don’t just start a blog because it’s the new technology, someone thinks it’s a brilliant idea or because your competitor is doing it. Your blog must have a focus and a strategic communications purpose.

2. Find and maintain a voice. Blogs must have a recognisable human voice. Although some internal blogs are ghost-written by marketing staff on behalf of an executive, it’s important that they use the “real” voice of this person. Authors should think like a speechwriter: follow the person around for a day or two taking notes of their turns of phrase and speaking patterns.

3. Be open and transparent. Blogs are designed to be interactive so you should invite comments. It’s essential that the blog responds to, or manages, both positive and negative reader opinions. If it does not address the hard questions, it loses all credibility.

4. Have clear terms and conditions. Blogs are not a free for all. They’re a place for controlled but open discussions. Develop clear written policies on anonymous or defamatory postings and stick to them.

5. Be timely. You can’t expect staff to keep checking the blog hoping that something new has appeared. Announce your publication dates and stick to them.    

6. Plan, plan, plan. Although corporate blogs might seem like a few informal scribblings written when the author has a few spare minutes, they’re definitely not. A good blog is a strategic corporate communication that is planned to within an inch of its life. All good writing takes time, planning and effort.

It’s ok if you don’t have an internal blog. They’re not for everyone or every company. Some people never learn to swim and, for them, there should be no shame in being wise enough to get the towel and go home.

Margaret E. Ward is managing director of Clear Ink, the Clear English specialists, and a blogger www.stronglanguage.ie.

The reason you should take note is that the number of advertisements are dwindling. When this happens, it has the potential to weaken our democracy and to further diminish our standing in the international business community. This is not as far-fetched as it might sound.

Media outlets traditionally obtain the bulk of their income from advertising. The retail price, subscription or licence fee only goes a small way to covering expenses. When a sharp decline in advertising occurs, as it has over the past couple of years, media companies need to cut costs and, ultimately, staffing levels.

Many Irish newspapers and radio stations have announced voluntary redundancies for journalists and, in the last week, a dozen or so staff members from TV3 were laid off. Big deal, right? Lots of people are losing their jobs.In a healthy democracy, journalists should act as a check and balance on the legislative, executive and judiciary branches of government. In addition to reporting the events of the day, they have a duty to investigate potential wrongdoing by those in power – in business, government and society.

Good investigative journalists are moral watchdogs with a sensitive nose for corruption, graft, cronyism, abuse of influence and power and much more.

Even so, investigations take time and lots of money. Traditionally, newspapers broke many of the big stories and radio and TV stations followed up on them. Recently – as newspapers’ advertising revenue dried up – the appetite for expensive investigative series (and potential legal actions) has diminished.

Over the past few years, television programmes like Prime Time and special RTÉ news reports by Charlie Bird and George Lee have filled some of the void. These TV investigations are no longer a certainty now that the editorial independence of the national broadcaster has been called in to question.

RTÉ’s strange apology for running a news item on the satirical painting of King Brian (sorry, the Taoiseach) in the National Gallery raises a very big issue. If RTÉ caved in on a simple thing like a painting then what other news items, or investigations, will they axe?

Print, broadcast and online media face several other problems when trying to meet their watchdog brief. Redundancies and layoffs mean many of their senior staff will leave – taking their long memories and years of experience with them.

Journalism is now a freelance world. Staff journalists are the exception rather than the rule at many newspapers and radio stations. This is the biggest threat of all to an independent, effective media. The rise in freelance journalism directly impacts on investigative reports. The Huffington Post, America’s famous blog turned internet newspaper, is so concerned about it that it launched an investigative report fund on Monday. The €1.75 million initiative, designed to fund freelance and staff journalists’ investigative reports, is asking for ideas and CVs.

Founder Arianna Huffington said layoffs at newspapers were hurting investigative journalism at a time the nation’s institutions need to be watched closely.

The same applies in Ireland. Print freelancers can only make a living if they crank out a high volume of well written articles. The rate for freelance work has not improved much in the last 10 years, so it’s really a numbers game. If you were a freelance journalist, would you take the risk of investigating and reporting a scandal?

Staff positions for talented freelance journalists are as rare as hen’s teeth so freelancers would be fools not to ask themselves a few questions: will I be paid for all the time I spend on this investigation? What happens if the scandal leads to a lawsuit in which I am named? Will this potential outcome impact on my ability to earn a living as a journalist?

Freelancers have less protection from legal action, or loss of income, than staffers if they publish a story that someone finds unfavourable.

Ireland’s international reputation is in tatters thanks to strange goings on in business, government and regulatory circles. Now, more than ever, we need a strong investigative media committed to shining a light in all those dark places. Who dares to fund it?

Brian Cowen "What should I do?"

Lectured some university students today in News Reporting and asked them to talk directly to the government – using Post-It notes. After class, I was going on BBC2 NI’s show Hearts and Minds as a guest along with Martin Mansergh. I told them I would give them to him after the show. It didn’t happen – he stormed out claiming I was a populist and he couldn’t believe someone with views like mine worked for the Irish Times! Basically, I asked him some hard questions, challenged his views and he did not like it. I guess he is not used to people standing up to him. See it at 7.30pm on Thursday.

Anyway, thanks to the students for the inspirational comments. Here is a small selection of “citizen journalism” and what they said in response to “What should the government do?”:

“Go four weeks without your pay or your ministerial cars, feed your family off the dole and then come back and realise that unless you cop on everyone in this nation, which is supposedly in your charge, will face that fate or worse unless you cop on.”
“Focus spending on education to guarantee the future stability of the country”
“Start actually doing politics, which is acting for the people, for the country which you are a part of. You are gambling with our future.”
“Get ideas from appropriate experts weighed up and acted upon ASAP.”
“Close down Anglo Irish Bank. Waste of money.”
“…Stop worrying about your jon and take some risks to get our economy back on track..”
“Join the commonwealth again…”
“If your economy is going to survive every single person who allowed this catastrophe to happen must be replaced immediately.  That includes your entire cabinet”