View from Dublin
Early Budget will have only a limited impact
When the facts changed, the great economist John Maynard Keynes changed his
mind. Brian Cowen and Brian Lenihan changed the date.
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Inside View from Dublin
Simplicity is the key to bank rescue but is it even possible?
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Despite what you may have heard or read, the bank rescue National Asset
Management Agency (NAMA) is not Mission Impossible.
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If we don’t even know our banks, we’ll never solve their problems
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
“What is the banks?” the Sean O’Casey character Joxer Daly might have asked if
he were around today. It is a harder question than it looks, and it has not
really been answered satisfactorily.
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Ireland rows to safer port as tide turns
Tuesday, 19 May 2009
Sick of the two-week sun break with the kids? Tired of adventure holidays and
found them, well, just a little too adventurous?
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Much of our wealth has gone — now the question is, who will lose what?
Tuesday, 12 May 2009
The most interesting bits of the April Budget in the Republic — such as
cancelling the disgraceful slush fund known as ministerial pensions — have
already disappeared like snow in spring.
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ESRI finds positive signs amid deep economic gloom
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
You've got to accentuate the positive, Bing Crosby sang. That's not easy when
you're in the middle of what looks like the worst recession in any developed
economy since the 1930s. But the Economic and Social Research Institute
(ESRI) is doing its best.
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Irish ministers must move now to steady ship
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
The cry most often heard in the land is: “This is not my fault. Why should I
pay?” It is a complaint, and a question, which strikes at the heart of
democratic political systems.
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On the road of ineptitude — only soon with more potholes
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
I know it sounds ridiculous, but amid all the Budget doom and gloom, the item
that sent the biggest chill through my veins was the cut in the Republic’s
road maintenance allocation. The potholes are coming back.
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No matter how you do the sums, this is a political nightmare
Tuesday, 7 April 2009
Ireland’s structural budget deficit is now put at a whopping 8% of GDP and
increases in the tax rate look inevitable
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Borrowers and savers have a role to play in our revival
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Without the bailing, the ship would sink, but the G20 countries need to start
fixing the leak
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Taxing times ahead for the Government
Monday, 23 March 2009
In these days of national emergency, it behoves us all to do our bit to help
the Irish Government through its travails — whether we be the Fine Gael and
Labour parties, or humble commentators. Or so the Taoiseach tells us.
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Blaming the bankers will not resolve widening budget deficit
Monday, 16 March 2009
A curious notion gaining widespread belief in the Republic is that the misery
to be inflicted upon us in a few weeks' time is the fault of the bankers. Or
even more bizarrely, that it is the fault of a few rogue bankers breaking
the law.
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Berlin bailout may yet be the best worst-case plan for Ireland’s economy
Monday, 9 March 2009
The Germans, it would seem, were thinking about rescuing us before we were
thinking of being rescued. Several weeks ago, I was asked by a German
correspondent why the German taxpayer should have to bail out Ireland? I
confess that I was a bit stuck for an answer.
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The devil may have the best tunes, but money can buy the best arguments
Monday, 2 March 2009
It all seemed so simple in the beginning. Basic textbook stuff, really.
Private demand was crumbling as banks contracted and confidence waned.
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Tax increases on the horizon for the Republic as the fiscal crisis deepens
Monday, 23 February 2009
Moving from the general to the particular is a difficult business. What makes
it trickier is that economics deals in the general, but politics is built on
the individual. “Sectors” don't have votes.
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This little PIGI went to the markets — but was not as fat as expected
Monday, 16 February 2009
Two years ago to the very month, a Spanish economist, commenting on the
prospects for Spain in the euro monetary union, cited, as a lesson for his
countrymen, the “success of Ireland”. What a difference 24 months can make!
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Irish economy now moves into free fall
Monday, 9 February 2009
One afternoon during last week’s wintry spell, Killiney Hill on the southern
outskirts of Dublin was full of delighted children, squealing at the sight
of snow.
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Banks would be overcome by losses without the state’s help
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
The root cause of the global recession is the crisis in the world's banking
and financial system.
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Anglo Irish boss and his loan are just a distraction
Monday, 26 January 2009
Perhaps the collapse of Anglo Irish Bank — for that is what it is — may
finally concentrate minds. We have on our hands a crisis of a kind not seen
since the foundation of the Irish Free State. The old politics no longer
apply, and the old rule book has to be torn up.
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Hey, big spender, how about improving public services
Monday, 19 January 2009
It was my habit to fulminate against those who complained that Irish
governments did not spend enough money, on the grounds that it looked very
low as a percentage of the economy (GDP).
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Christmas retail slump has made deflation fears worse
Monday, 22 December 2008
I don't know about you, but the shops look very empty to me. It is certainly a
lot different from Christmas a few years ago, when the Gardai had to be
called to clear Dublin's Henry Street for fear someone would be killed in
the crush.
Comment: 1
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