Tax Revenue Stability and Corporation Tax
One of the lessons of the recent economic collapse (I hope!) has been the importance of a stable tax base. Total stability is impossible for a small open economy like Ireland; we will always have swings in economic performance which will alter the volume of economic transactions and tax revenues...
Monday Blog: Households and Governments: how they differ
The gap between what the Government in Ireland takes in and what it spends is running at a rate of €1 billion every month. Clearly this is not sustainable in the long-run because it adds to the total amount of debt owed by citizens year after year. The total amount of debt owed by the Government on...
How much income do you need in retirement?
Pensions and pension's policy are back on the agenda following the recent release of the OECD report on the Irish pensions system. Details and the document are here: http://www.welfare.ie/en/pressoffice/Pages/pr220413.aspx At the core of much discussion on pension issues is the question of what is...
Republic of Ireland’s economic outlook remains challenging
The Nevin Economic Research Institute has published our latest Quarterly Economic Observer (Wednesday 10th April). In it we outline our latest set of projections for the Republic of Ireland economy. These suggest a period of low-growth and high-unemployment for the next three years and include: •...
Monday Blog: Personal Debt Deals
The publication of guidelines in relation to personal insolvency yesterday has at least two positive features: consideration of a living income is very much under debate and this is to be welcome some individuals and households in situations of mortgage or other debt distress are likely to move...
Still a high income country – despite the recession
Indicator 4.1 from the NERI's latest Quarterly Economics Facts (QEF) document shows that despite the financial crisis, the Republic of Ireland's income per capita remains high. The latest data, for 2011, show that Ireland's average income of €35,400 is the sixth highest in the EU. The figure is...
Women in the Economy and Labour Market
Last week, on International Women's Day, I spoke at the ICTU joint women's committee seminar on the topic of ' Women in the Economy and the Labour Market'. My paper highlighted the latest data on the current challenges facing women, North and South, as they participate in the economy, enter or leave...
Investing in our Children
Children are central to the long-term success of our society and economy; of course they are a lot more than that. However, taking the narrow focus of economic policy and long-term investments, all the evidence points towards the merit of investing in high quality professionally provided education...