Ronan Lyons | Personal Website
Ronan Lyons | Personal Website

June 2011

A lot done, more to do – prices in the eurozone and Ireland’s competitive adjustment

The EU has released its latest consumer price survey, which found prices in Ireland are about 18% above the EU average – although that varies by sector, with clothes and footwear below average and food (and alcohol) significantly more expensive. This post tracks European countries’ changing competitiveness over time, with Ireland’s readjustment sizeable but not yet complete. Indeed a contrast with Iceland and the UK highlights the stark difference between countries that are forced to devalue and those than cannot. Read more

Three labour market trends Ireland can’t ignore

Ireland’s unemployment was recently revised down from 15% to 14%. Nonetheless, there are over 200,000 people in Ireland looking for work but who can’t find it. This post scratches beneath the surface and highlights three trends – by gender, by region and by sector – that those in charge of trying to create new jobs should bear in mind as the drive to bring meaningful recovery gathers pace. Read more

The tuition fees debate: a debt-for-equity suggestion

The tuition fees debate in England and Wales shows no signs of cooling down. Opponents of the new scheme ignore the unfairness of the current system, while proponents ignore debt aversion on the part of students. Drawing on an innovative Colombian social enterprise that offers human capital contracts, this post makes the case for a type of “debt-for-equity” swap, where instead of debt, the UK government should take an equity stake in its graduates. Read more

On Hogan’s Stand – or how to introduce an interim property charge fairly

The imminent introduction of water and property charges has sparked anger among most Irish people, not least because as flat charges, or poll taxes, they are unfair. This post outlines a better way of introducing an interim property charge, namely by breaking down the country into ten different bands based on land value, and then presents a map of the bands, based on 200,000 daft.ie ads in 2009 and 2010. Such an interim system would be significantly fairer and could be tailored to bring in €1.5bn when fully running. Read more