September 28, 2010

Overcoming our shyness, or how education could be a €4bn export business

Last week, the Government announced its strategy for Education as an Export. This post reviews that strategy and finds its key objectives sadly unspecific. It looks at the data that exists and finds that Ireland needs to break into non-Anglo-Saxon markets – particularly the Middle East. More ambitious targets could bring a significant boost to the economy, including 8,500 new jobs across a range of sectors and using 6 million square metres of currently vacant commercial property. Read more

June 1, 2010

How much trade has been lost in the Great Recession?

This post examines the latest OECD data, to see which economies have been most affected by “lost trade” during the Great Recession, especially as it is being rewritten in the light of eurozone/PIIGS crisis. It turns out that the nature of the exporting sector, and not the government’s finances, has determined a country’s trading success since 2008, with drug-exporting Ireland and Switzerland among the least affected, while Finland (ICT) and Japan (cars) find themselves among the most affected. Read more

June 22, 2009

Can Ireland afford to increase its corporate tax rate?

Much is made of the importance of Ireland’s 12.5% headline corporate tax rate. Ireland’s effective tax rate on business is actually 15.5%, though. Increasing that to 17% still leaves Ireland as the third lowest in the OECD. Given the state of Ireland’s finances, such a move should be strongly considered. Read more

April 27, 2009

Are Irish workers undertaxed?

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. Read more

oecd

Overcoming our shyness, or how education could be a €4bn export business

How much trade has been lost in the Great Recession?

Can Ireland afford to increase its corporate tax rate?

Are Irish workers undertaxed?