Ireland bails out banks. Deficit 32% this year. Sovereign debt crisis continues.

The debt crisis finally forced Ireland into making a decision. Ireland had to choose whether to let its banks fail or bail them out. Neither choice was pleasant and both would have had severe repercussions. Not surprising, Ireland took the easier way out. Marketwatch reports:

The cost of bailing out nationalized lender Anglo Irish Bank could soar to as much as 34.3 billion euros ($46.6 billion), the country’s central bank said Thursday, as it also unexpectedly told Allied Irish Banks to raise a further €3 billion.

The new figures, along with the money already injected into other banks and a possible further capital increase for Irish Nationwide Building Society, could see the total cost of the industry bailout hit as much as €50 billion.

In a highly-anticipated assessment of the cost of the financial crisis, the Central Bank of Ireland said it expects Anglo Irish to need €29.3 billion in total, but added the figure could rise by another €5 billion under a “stress scenario.”

The bank has already received €22.9 billion of that total after suffering massive losses as the country’s housing market and construction industry collapsed, dragging the whole economy down with it.

Here’s the key section for those watching the debt crisis and the increasing socialism and economic fascism occurring around the world:

The extra cash for the banking system means the deficit in 2010 will soar to around 32% of gross domestic product, compared to a previous estimate of 12%. The government will announce a new four-year budget plan in November to ensure it can meet this commitment.

A 32 percent deficit!!! That has to be some kind of record.

But what choice did Ireland have? It could have let the banks fail, which would have sent the country to economic turmoil. Instead, it chose to socialize the banks’ debts and is risking the creation of a huge moral hazard. Ireland chose to trade short-term chaos for long-term chaos.

In reality, Ireland is hoping for an economic recovery that will lift its economy and help it reduce its deficit and pay off some of the debt. But will that recovery come soon enough? Will it be strong enough? Will the Irish government and Irish banks suddenly develop the fiscal discipline that it has lacked so far?

I don’t blame Ireland for the choice it made. The problem was not the choice it had to make last week, it was the choices it and other governments, including the United States, have made over the previous decades of loose money, free spending, and debt accumulation.

But we must remember, this story is far from over. It has simply shifted from one of a gushing flesh wound to a slow and festering wound that has not yet been repaired. I repeat: The sovereign debt crisis is far from over. In fact, it is just beginning.