This post examines Fintan O’Toole’s claim that the bank bailout has reduced Irish people to serfdom. In particular, it challenges the notion that the bank bailout is Ireland’s biggest economic problem, by comparing it to the budget deficit (and the national debt). It also challenges the idea that Ireland has no economic future and gives five grounds for optimism about those “lucky enough” to work in Ireland over the coming decade.
Following last weekend’s European elections, commentators have highlighted a general move to the right and the usual protest vote. An examination of country-level results reveals that the move to the right may be driven more by punishment of governing parties for economic failures than any idealogical shift.
Relationship between government deficits and European election results
Two weeks ago, I examined the IMF’s estimates for growth prospects in 2009 and came to the conclusion that in a year where countries such as Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Laos are among the world’s fastest growing economies, more open economies are being hit by a collapse in the globalized consumer’s demand. The temptation may be [...]
An overview of how much the typical worker is taxed in Ireland, compared to the rest of the OECD, reveals Irish workers to have a significantly lower tax burden than the OECD peers. The trend of lower and lower since 2000, so that the average industrial worker was actually subsidised in 2007, now appears not only unsustainable but also reckless.
