Monday Blog: We have a problem on low skills and we need to talk about it
Have you difficulties reading and understanding your telephone bill? How will you fare on the forthcoming Water charges bill if you live in the Republic of Ireland? Today, on the island of Ireland, there are approximately one million adults with serious challenges in relation to reading and the...
Monday Blog: Cé na luachanna le haghaidh cén fhís ?
What values for what vision was the title of a ‘Léacht’ I gave over a year ago at the Fóram Díospóireachta in Dublin. The talk was transmitted by Raidio na Gaeltachta later last year and an audio is available here . The talk, which was given in the Irish language, focuses on the challenges along the...
Record current account surplus shows space for wage increases
The latest GDP figures are disappointing (showing a contraction in 2013 of 0.3% due to both the 'patent cliff' and a stagnant domestic economy). However, the current account surplus has reached a record high of 6.6% of GDP. For comparison, in 2012 Germany had a surplus of 7% and the Netherlands had...
Keeping an eye on earnings and prices
The past six years have been very challenging with a succession of harsh budgets, pay cuts, tax increases and price hikes faced by all households. For those impacted most, unemployment and emigration have hit home. For others, the challenge to make ends meet has grown harder and harder. While the...
NERI Seminar: The Impact on National Income of the Patent-Cliff
Today's NERI seminar in the INTO Learning Centre focussed on the impact of the patent cliff on economic and fiscal activity In Ireland. Shane Enright and Mary Dalton gave a detailed overview of their recent paper on the subject. Mary and Shane both work in the Department of Finance. Previously, Mary...
Monday Blog: Thinking aloud about goods and services in the public domain
‘Economics’ has been defined as a ‘science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses’ (Lionel Robbins). While I have difficulty with an understanding which regards economics as a ‘science’ (scientific methods may be used but, surely...
Comparing Wealth in Ireland and the EU
Indicator 4.4 from the NERI’s latest Quarterly Economics Facts (QEF) document examines wealth across Europe using a measure of average net financial wealth per person. This measure, calculated using the latest data from Eurostat, captures assets such as cash, bank deposits and shares but does not...
Monday Blog: The best behaved pupil?
As memories of the Troika in Ireland recede and as the narrative has been truly set we should pause and ask some hard questions. In a recent article entitle Ireland: The Best Behaved Pupil? on the Policy Network website (State of the Left) I have argued that 'the great irony of recent months is that...
NERI Seminar Dublin: Enterprise Policy and Ireland’s Economic Recovery
The latest NERI seminar took place this afternoon in the INTO Learning Centre. Seán Ó Riain discussed the place of enterprise policy in Ireland's economic recovery. Seán is a professor of sociology at the National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis . Prof. Riain's current research is on the...