NERI Seminar Dublin: Examining the relationship between health and wealth
Sanna Nivakoski's presentation on wealth and the effect of subjective survival probability. The seminar took place in the INTO Learning Centre on 19 May 2015. Sanna is based in at the UCD Geary Institute
Monday Blog: From correction to prevention
Employment has increased significantly, in the Republic of Ireland, since 2012. This is very welcome. While the details and scale of the increase has been open to statistical interpretation it is clear that a recovery in output in most sectors of the economy has spilled over into job creation (See...
Employment, wages and economic recovery in the Republic of Ireland
The headline figure in the Quarterly National Household Survey is a 2.2 per cent increase in employment in the year to the first quarter of 2015. Other notable figures include: i. A 26.9 per cent annual decline in part-time underemployment—indicating that people in part-time jobs looking for extra...
Monday Blog: Inequality and Budget 2016
After an interlude the idea of economic inequality is back on the agenda. A combination of events, observable trends and, more recently, the published works of economists such as Thomas Piketty, Tony Atkinson and Richard Wilkinson have helped put the spotlight on the question of social inequality...
Monday Blog: The wealth of nations is not so even
When Adam Smith wrote ‘The Wealth of Nations’ in 1776 wealth consisted mainly of land, housing and other treasures. While comprehensive data are hard to come by, Thomas Piketty in his book, Capital in the 21 st Century, managed to track the main trends and composition of wealth in a number of large...
Recap on the NERI Labour Market Conference
The third annual NERI labour market conference was held on 1 May in Riddel Hall, Queen's University Belfast. The event was held in conjunction with the Queen's Management School and featured presentations on a wide range of areas. Details on the topics covered, including links to the slides, are...
Almost 100,000 children live in families dependent on FIS
The current focus on low pay and precarious work practices has set the scene for the work of the recently formed Low Pay Commission in the Republic of Ireland. One aspect of their work will be to look at the number of individuals trapped in low pay, many of whom are dependent on the social...
Monday Blog: Northern Ireland has taken greatest hit on living standards
A key issue in the run-up to the UK General Election has been changes in living standards. While economics is not everything in the universe, the level and change in living standards is a very important factor in shaping the climate of public opinion. Not just the level and change in living...
NERI Seminar: A Future Worth Working For
Yesterday's seminar given by the Director of the NERI, Tom Healy, focused on setting the parameters for a clear, long-term vision for the Irish economy to emerge. The seminar is based on a recent working paper that argues this vision must be based on concrete goals that can be observed, measured and...
Monday Blog: Education at the cutting edge of a new vision
[Text of address to be given at Irish National Teachers Organisation Annual Conference in Ennis, Co Clare, on 6 April 2015] Easter week marks the time when many education related organisations hold their annual gathering. It is an occasion of discussion, meetings, announcements, statements...