Employment in the public sector
As shown in the latest edition of the Quarterly Economic Facts, the public sector in the Republic of Ireland accounts for 18.4 per cent of total employment—not far from the average level across OECD countries. The public sector employees make up 20 per cent of the total number of people working in...
NERI Seminar: Deprivation on the Island of Ireland
Trutz Haase was the speaker at the most recent NERI seminar on deprivation on the island of Ireland. Over the course of the presentation, Trutz provided an overview of the Irish deprivation indices, covering the conceptual underpinnings of the 2011 Pobal Haase-Pratschke (HP) Deprivation Index for...
Government spending and revenue in the Republic of Ireland
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...
Monday Blog: Unlearning 'economics'
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...
Wealth in Ireland - at last some rebust data
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...
Monday Blog: Voilà la différence
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...
NERI Seminar: Funding Universal Health &Social Care in Ireland
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...
Annual Labour Market Conference: Call for Papers
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...
Monday Blog: An even more modest proposal
Events on the European stage are moving fast as the new Greek Government continues to play a blinder on the question of European debt. The eyes of Europe and the world are on Greece. The stakes are very high and this could go very well or very badly for Europe as events and talks play out over the...
Work, Welfare, Taxes and Unemployment Traps
As the economic recovery takes root, there are welcome improvements in the levels of employment and continued decreases in unemployment. Looking across 2015, the latest NERI projections (December 2014) suggest employment growth of 2.1% this year with unemployment falling to 10.4%. As policy pursues...