Monday Blog: State Development Bank welcome
The announcement in Dublin, last week, by Government of the establishment of a Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) is a very welcome development. The timescale for its establishment, its mode of operation and delivery and the scale and impact of that delivery will be vital to an...
Unemployment and the European Union
In 2013, unemployment in Germany, at 5.3 per cent, was at its lowest level since reunification. In the same year, Spain’s unemployment rate, 26.4 per cent, was at its highest level since at least the 1960s, before which reliable statistics are more difficult to come by. Austrian unemployment is also...
NERI Housing inBrief
Housing and Ireland’s Economic Recovery Housing has been one of a number of issues that has sat at the core of Ireland’s recent economic collapse. The very expensive lessons of recent years must not be lost; excessive house prices were not good news for the economy or society generally. The latest...
Time to think about the type of Ireland we want to live in
The impact of the various austerity measures over recent years has been, and continues to be, felt by families in every corner of the country. Whether it is pay, public services or social welfare; all measures point towards a drop in living standards that has been hard felt. Recent data from the CSO...
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...