The latest edition of the Economic and Social Review has been published. The edition contains two policy papers by staff from the ESRI, one by Tim Callan, Claire Keane and John Walsh on property taxes and the other by David Duffy on negative equity. The Irish Independent have “seen Duffy’s report” presumably because they have access to the Internet. Now you can read it too.
Jeffrey Sachs joins forces with George Osborne to make the case for a frugal fiscal policy in this FT article.
It is not surprising that economists raise a cynical eyebrow at corporate-speak-filled innovation reports. Last week we had the IDA’s Horizon 2020; this week it was the turn of the Innovation Taskforce with its Innovation Ireland. But it would be a mistake for Irish economists to disengage from the debate given the impressive body of literature on the economics of innovation we have to draw on.
From Wolfgang Schäuble, in the FT:
Should a eurozone member ultimately find itself unable to consolidate its budgets or restore its competitiveness, this country should, as a last resort, exit the monetary union while being able to remain a member of the EU.
If you wanted to set up a system which maximised the probability of self-fulfilling market panics and speculative attacks, this sounds like a good way to go about it.
The new issue of FInance&Development looks at the impact of sporting events on economic activity – the link is here.