You won't get away with standing up on a bus and declaring that you don't know what a tracker mortgage is anymore. Because if there's one thing the current financial crisis has done for most of us former ignoramuses is educate us in economic speak.

As minister Joan Burton told Vanity Fair journalist Michael Lewis recently: "Do you know that the Irish people are now expert on bonds? Yes, they now say 100 basis points rather than 1 per cent! They have developed a new vocabulary." And this week's addition to our ever-expanding vocab? "Class action".

If you, like me, are someone who regularly confuses their 'class actions' with their 'mass torts' and think they only ever occur in John Grisham novels, think again. Because last week the Irish Property Council (IPC) announced that it hopes to take a "class action" in the High Court against the Government.

And the reason? It says that the ruination of the property market has been caused "by the reckless lending of our banks, lack of regulation by our Government and the disregard of prudent advice on fiscal policy by the Government in power".

Please. Stop. Laughing. Yes, we know all of this is as obvious as the nose on Barry Manilow's face, and hey, this is Ireland -- nothing will ever be done about it.

But the IPC says it is serious when it claims "property owners are being ruthlessly scapegoat[ed] by government and the banks through the courts without any responsibility in this catastrophe".

Their legal adviser -- Paddy Fitzgerald of Ferry Solicitors -- said that the reality was that the IPC would have to succeed: "We can't continue in this vein because everyone involved in commercial property and experiencing negative equity will have a judgment and there will be nobody left to continue the business."

So, is it a goer? Can they really sue the Government? And, more importantly, if they do, can we stop pouring billions into the banking black holes to pay the costs?

I asked solicitor Patrick Walshe, a partner in Philip Lee Solicitors, what he thought of their chances:

"A novel proposal," he said. "Although it is difficult at this stage to see how the plaintiffs will demonstrate legal liability on the part of the Government. A policy decision of the State, however flawed, might not be actionable. Another point to bear in mind is that the legal costs of this action could be very high and an unsuccessful plaintiff could find themselves at a High Court costs order."

There was even less enthusiasm on internet discussion sites such as Askaboutmoney. com and thepropertypin.com -- with typical comments recycling the "no one beat you over the head or forced you to take the loan", "why should I pay for your stupidity?" or "Ill-thought-out investments spark ill-thought litigation. I can't see this bluff and bluster as having any reality", being the norm.

But is it really as daft as it sounds? Or are we just so used to the boys at the top getting off scot free that we find the thought of any form of co-responsibility for this whole financial mess ludicrous?

This is the example the IPC gave at the meeting where they proposed a case against the Irish State:

"Imagine this; you buy a ticket for a flight on a plane. It's sold by a reputable airline that is approved by the State and controlled by the aviation regulator. The regulator assures the passengers that it has made all the appropriate checks to ensure the airline operates to all of the regulations. The plane takes off on its journey. However, it is overloaded and does not have enough fuel to reach its destination. It crash lands causing major injury to all the passengers. There is no one left uninjured and, indeed, some passengers subsequently die. Two years later the airline goes on to sue the injured passengers holding them responsible for what has happened."

This, according to the IPC; "best illustrates what has happened in the Irish economy in the last few years".

I asked Karl Deeter, operations manager with Irish Mortgage Brokers, what he thought of the IPC's idea and he said: "It's about time somebody called out the State on this bullshit. So far they've made every pathetic attempt possible to evade responsibility [for the financial crisis].

"The regulator is supposed to regulate. He is paid to ensure an avoidance of systemic risk. He didn't. We crashed. Banks failed. Basically, instead of inquests we need to start closing some of these banks down. They shouldn't be in existence and we're selling generations down the Swanee to support them. Look at NIB, not supported by the State, closing branches, cutting costs -- they've had to lay off 30 per cent of their staff, and then look at the likes of AIB. They should never have received a bailout.

"It's not even 'crony capitalism -- it's 'crony socialism' and I'm glad that the IPC have had the balls to come out and say it as it is," Deeter concluded emphatically.

Deeter's right to be mad. It's criminal that so many who have been responsible for the social chaos we face today have been able to walk away so handsomely rewarded for their recklessness.

Because, of course, it's only the losses that have been socialised. There's not a chance that all the banksters who made huge bonuses during the boom are about to start divvying up their dollars with the plebs they ripped off.

Nor is it likely that our ex-politicians will share out their pensions, severance pay and all the other lovely perks they received for doing such a super-duper job while in office. And the esteemed Mr Neary, regulator extraordinaire, is probably not going to insist that everyone should take a piece of his (those of you having difficulty paying your mortgage, heating bills etc please look away now) €202,000 pay-off, or his retirement lump sum of €428,000, or even his annual pension of €142,670.

Last year Rory Fitzgerald of NewsWhip asked, "Who is to blame for Ireland's economic collapse?" and came up with these figures: the banks -- 30 per cent; the Irish Government -- 25 per cent; Irish Financial Regulators -- 20 per cent; the ECB -- 10 per cent; international financiers -- 10 per cent; and the Irish people -- 5 per cent.

While some of us may quibble with the levels of percentages allocated to each entity (and where are the auditors and auctioneers and, in particular, the rating agencies?) no one can argue that it's fair that the people who are responsible for approximately 5 per cent of the fiasco get to shoulder 100 per cent of the consequences.

And that's what is happening to us now. Here in Ireland and also in Europe and the US the rank and file are being asked to pay for the stupidity -- and in some cases, corruption -- of the people who were supposed to be in charge, who were supposed to know what they were doing.

Even the oh-so-responsible Germans were described (by Lewis in The Big Short) as "the dumbest buyers of CDOs". (Collateralised Debt Obligations -- a fancy way of describing an intricate fraud.)

"Who's the [buying long] idiot?" asked one short seller? Answer: "Dusseldorf. Stupid Germans. They take rating agencies seriously. They believe in the rules."

Lewis also said: "The Germans don't want to pay because they feel they shouldn't be asked to bail out other people when in fact it was, in many cases, their banks that lent the money in the first place that created the bubble."

So, should we add the Germans to the list of people we want to sue?

While we're at it -- what about Alan Greenspan?

One US commentator (Shlomo Maital of Global Crisis blog) suggests we should.

He says: "Blame Ireland's Central Bank, which saw the bubble explicitly in 2006 and took no action, and even hid its concern.

"Blame Ireland's planners, who actively encouraged massive overbuilding. Blame Ireland's government at the time, who insisted banks recognise financial losses upfront instead of deferring them [as many American banks did]."

But, above all, blame Greenspan . . .

"It was Greenspan who showed other nations like Ireland how to create a housing bubble, by slashing interest rates rapidly and irresponsibly from 6.5 per cent to 1 per cent in the wake of the 2000 dotcom crisis."

So there you have it -- if the IPC is serious about getting all those who had a hand in our financial demise to take some responsibility, it's going to have to add the German government and the ex-head of the US FED to their list.

I wish them well. This could prove to be a class action.

Originally published in