The level and quality of employment together with the distribution of skills is central to productivity. Full employment is possible provided that public policy is directed to this as an overriding priority. When some economists speak of a ‘natural rate of unemployment’ they betray an underlying...

Although inequality of income has taken up a lot of analytical space for many years much less attention has been given to trends in wage inequality. Last week I focussed on the share of labour in total income in the Republic of Ireland. This week I look at trends in wage inequality. Two facts stand...

I bet you are perplexed by the title. Read on. Since the 1980s wages have declined sharply as a proportion of total income in the Republic of Ireland. While total income or production (GDP, GNI or GVA as you wish) has grown dramatically since the early 1990s the share of wages in the total cake as...

The National Living Wage of £7.20 will come into force from tomorrow across the UK for those aged 25 and over. This new minimum wage rate will amount to an automatic increase of 50p per hour for the coming financial year and it is set to rise to £9 per hour by 2020. There has been much discussion of...

In the course of a decade and a year of commemorations there has been much discussion and consideration about the past. Difficult issues and questions are negotiated and depending on which tradition one tends to associate with, particular emphasis will be placed on certain events or certain...

Inequality of pay between women and men is a well documented statistical fact. But, what is the relationship between this gender gap and low pay? How is early childhood care relevant? And what are the implications for public policy and trade unions? This Blog looks at these questions in the Republic...

Today's statement in the House of Commons marked George Osborne's eighth budget in just under six years as Chancellor. Whilst there were many eye-catching policies such as a tax on sugary drinks and reforms to ISAs, they could not distract from some major revisions to UK economic growth. The Office...

In an earlier blog I noted that the government's available fiscal space over the next five years, after accounting for demographic costs and the indexing of public spending for inflation, would be somewhere in the region of €2.5 billion to €4.5 billion. The Fiscal Council estimate €3.2 billion. The...