In the last year the Central Bank has urged trade unions to raise their wage demands. What? Yes it did happen. But not here. The German Central Bank, the Bundesbank, urged German trade unions to up their wage demands – at least above the rate of inflation (the message was relayed through Jens...

At a meeting earlier this week, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation focused on the topic of Low Pay and the Living Wage. In a contribution to the committee, I first outlined some context for their examination of these issues, before going into more detail on the concept...

The NERI’s Quarterly Economic Facts contains a range of indicators on the public finances. One of these indicators compares levels of government revenue and public spending in the Republic of Ireland with that of other European Union economies. The basic method of comparison is to measure total...

Economics has been described as a ‘science’. A ‘science’ is a body of knowledge and methods which uses evidence and measurement linked to the exercise of testing, repeating and predicting. Most first-year students of ‘economics’ will be taught that it is a ‘positive’ science in the sense that it...

The construction sector in Northern Ireland saw the largest fall in employment across the economy. Even now, over six years since the property crash there are still 30% fewer jobs in the sector than there were in 2008. Many of the jobs in the construction sector would have been mid-level skilled...

Despite its prominence in various public policy discussions over recent years, detailed information on wealth in Ireland has been sparse. For the most part discussion on the distribution of wealth, and concepts such as a wealth tax, were based on hunches and guestimates or assumptions that the...

As you ponder last Saturday’s match between France and Ireland you might consider some of the striking differences in both parts of the world. The culture, institutions and politics of France are very different to those in Ireland where, to some extent, the political culture has been shaped by the...

Yesterday's NERI seminar, given by Professsor Charles Normand, examined the drivers of health care expenditure and assessed the feasibility of universal health care in Ireland. Professor Normand argued that it is feasible to develop a practical definition of universal care, and to work out the costs...

NERI Labour Market Conference The NERI—in conjunction with Centre for Irish Business & Economic Performance , Queen’s University Management School— will host the third annual NERI Labour Market Conference on 1 May 2015. The event will be held in Riddel Hall, Queen's University Belfast. The...

For many countries in Europe significant, unexploited sources of economic growth remain and unemployment rates across the EU 28 are well above the level recorded before the recession started in 2008—though they have dropped slightly from a peak in early 2013. With an average unemployment rate of 17...