Monday Blog: Researching the macro-economic impact of the Living Wage
The idea of a ‘living wage’ is gathering momentum in many parts of the world. It is conceived and measured as a wage rate which is adequate to meet the needs of workers and their families in a given society at a given time. But affordability of life for workers is one thing – what about...
The Earnings Distribution: the bottom, the middle, the top and the very top
There has been lots of talk in recent months about ‘middle-earners’ – almost all of it without any basis in the various numbers available on the income and earnings distribution. Indicator 4.5a in the latest edition of the NERI’s Quarterly Economic Facts (p75-76) provides a basis for a more informed...
Monday Blog: Wage repression - the new orthodoxy
Wages have been falling since 2009 in the Republic of Ireland. This deterioration has been accompanied by (i) an erosion in purchasing power as the prices of most goods and services rise and (ii) less money in people’s pockets as taxes and public charges have risen and many social payments have been...
Latest Data on the Vacancy Rate
The ratio of unemployed people to job vacancies is a measure of the extent of labour market tightness—the higher the ratio, the less opportunity unemployed individuals have to find employment. The current rate in Ireland is 24 people for every job vacancy available. This suggests the economy is...
Taxing Questions, Taxing Answers
Following the publication of the recent NERI working paper on total household tax contributions, there have been a number of issues raised by commentators and others on the paper, its data and its conclusions. Of course, given the topic, that comes as no surprise. Taxation is always a contentious...
Ireland’s Low Pay Problem: time for a Living Wage
Ireland joined a growing international living wage movement in July when the Living Wage Technical Group launched the 2014 Living Wage. In principle, a living wage is intended to establish an hourly wage rate that should provide employees with sufficient income to achieve an agreed acceptable...
Monday Blog: Wages stagnation in Northern Ireland a brake on recovery
The speed of economic recovery in the UK has taken many by surprise. First the good news. Employment is up. Retail sales are up and business investment is expanding. This is good news for exporters in the Republic of Ireland especially those in sectors such as agri-food where, traditionally, the UK...
Employment up, but wages ominous
UK Labour Market data released this morning show that the trend of rising employment and falling real wages is set to continue. At a UK-wide level, the decreases in unemployment are quite impressive, particularly for youth unemployment but figures for earnings at GB level paint a more sober picture...
Monday Blog: The economics of aye or nay
Adam Smith, a Scottish political economist and philosopher of the 18thcentury is famous for having written The Wealth of Nations. He is less well known for having written an important work entitled The Theory of Moral Sentiment. The latter work is a very important contribution to moral and political...
Hours and Earnings in the Northern Ireland Labour Market
As noted in this blog last week, there has been a significant recovery in the labour market for both Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. However it was also noted that the pace of recovery in the labour market has not so far been reflected in economic growth. While UK economic...