UK Autumn Statment fails to tackle underlying problems
In the Autumn Statement today the Office for Budget Responsibility has upgraded forecasts for growth in the UK economy from 0.6% to 1.4% for 2013. Furthermore they have upgraded forecasts for 2014 and 2015 to 2.4% and 2.2% respectively. While much attention has focused on the speed of the UK...
Monday Blog: Are we over-spending?
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) periodically publishes comparative data on a wide range of economic and social areas from education to pensions to overseas aid. In its latest Government at a Glance there is a wealth of data on many aspects of public service and...
NERI Seminar: Household Tax Contributions
Presentation at NERI Research Seminar Series November 20th 2013. Slides linked to NERI working paper 2013/no.8 'Estimating the Direct and Indirect Tax Contributions of Households in Ireland'.
Average Incomes – falling back to 2005 levels
Income levels, whether for individuals or households, are far from perfect measures of progress and well-being. However, they offer one insight into the experience of recent years for households across the Republic. In particular, trends in disposable income (income after taxes and welfare payments)...
Post Troika: Never Waste a Crisis
External event contribution Presentation made at annual ISME conference (8th November 2013).
How did Austerity Affect Ireland?
External event contribution Presentation made to Finnish Delegation (MANDATE offices) Since 2008 the Irish economy suffered a massive fall, with one in every seven jobs being lost. There are two reasons for this. One is the collapse of a banking and construction bubble. The other reason is the effect of austerity. Since 2008...
Options for Investing in Early Childhood Education in Ireland
External event contribution Presentation to the Conference: A Global Gathering for Early Childhood Dublin, October 17th 2013 Abstract: Children are central to the long-term success of any society and economy; of course they are a lot more than that. However, taking the narrow focus of economic policy and long-term investments...
Low Pay &Low Income: some insights on ‘The Working Poor’
Earlier this year Eurostat, the EU Statistics Agency, released data on the number of low-paid workers in Ireland and across the EU. Their analysis defines low-earnings in relative terms measured as those earning two thirds or less of the national median gross hourly earnings. Median earnings are the...