The Revenue Gap
The NERI’s Quarterly Economic Facts contains a range of indicators on the public finances. One of these indicators compares government revenue as a percentage of GDP in the EU and the Republic of Ireland. Total general government revenue is largely obtained from taxes and social security...
Monday Blog: It's party time again?
ews of rising house prices, fewer households in negative equity, falling dole queues, rising spending in the shops and the long farewell to the Troika together with a relatively benign Irish summer, so far, have lifted the economic mood a little in the Republic of Ireland. In the North the spillover...
Examining Unemployment Traps in the Republic of Ireland
As individuals transition from unemployment to employment they experience losses of welfare payments and entitlements, gains in earned gross income and they begin to pay income taxes and social insurance contributions on their earned income. To assess this impact it is possible to calculate a...
Uncertainty and Economic Recovery
Slowly, the Irish economy is recovering; very slowly! Over the weekend, I and other economists contributed to a journal.ie article ( see here) on the two-speed nature of the recovery. While the exchequers finances are improving (lower unemployment, higher employment, some increased spending...
How is the Economy Doing?
External event contribution Presentation to the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Lunchtime Learning series on July 8th 2014.
Spending on health and the cost of providing universal care
The recent release of OECD data external link on health care has highlighted the low level of expenditure on health in Ireland. As noted in the Irish Times external link, the state spent less on health than any other country in Western Europe during 2012. In this blog I attempt to put this stark...
Monday Blog: Après Piketty
In scenes slightly reminiscent of the papal visit to Ireland in 1979 the departure of what the media has styled ‘rockstar’ Thomas Piketty has left a curious void. Was it a temporary mid-summer event to fete the fascinating and seductive ideas of a left-leaning French economist while regretting all...
NERI Seminar: Summer QEO 2014
Slides used by Dr Tom McDonnell at the launch of the Quartertly Economic Observer, Summer 2014.
Monday Blog: US-EU trade deal (TTIP): separating the baby from the bathwater
Trade and investment across regions and continents can be good for people. It can raise levels of productivity, create jobs and encourage global cooperation to the betterment of all. Better to make trade than war especially when it comes to food, energy, medicines and the many goods and services...
Monday Blog: Piketty on inequality
''It is hard to imagine an economy and a society that can continue functioning indefinitely with such extreme divergence between social groups” – so writes Thomas Piketty on page 297 of ‘Capital the 21stCentury’. The book is a serious read but not beyond the reach of most readers. It is very well...