Dublin Economics Workshop October Conference

Just looking a the Venter speech and wondering why Economists are light years behind the biological and biochemical sciences. These guys are talking 10 dollar human genomes and medicines coming from manufacturing facilities (chips, a laboratory) connected to our own computers. Meanwhile, they are creating new life forms for god’s sake, which is just as well, as we have learned very little in economics since the great depression. The financial risk models did not work very well did they? What aobut the automated trading platforms and derivatives which seem to multiply like viruses within the system? Maybe a topic might be, “Why is Economics still in the Dark Ages?”

@ Robert Browne

Not to worry! German economic professors have made the fundamental breakthrough. According to Wolfgang Munchau, some can be on the opposing sides of an argument and still be correct in both states.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/a82c9de0-cce3-11e1-9960-00144feabdc0.html#axzz20iPHljDx

Energy, Transport & Food policey outside of the Eurozone.

@ Joseph Ryan

With a story in The Irish Times today headed, ‘Weather to deteriorate later in week,’ I don’t wish to add to the gloom but it’s hard to ignore the ‘plus ça change’ begging bowl routine: ‘The Irish Farmers’ Association said the bad weather was the only topic of conversation in the countryside (eaten bread is soon forgotten – – incomes up 60% in 2 years)…IFA president John Bryan called on Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney to use today’s EU Farm Council meeting in Brussels to get help for farmers’

However, when we couple the cargo-cultists with the ubiquitous believers in fairytales (besides the bog-standard celestial focused variety) then we are in a ‘Houston, we have a problem’ territory.

I sent an e-mail last week to the head of the Irish Exporters Association after the group crowned Google as Ireland’s biggest exporter. ‘Look at the crazy revenue per worker and it will be clear how data from Google, Microsoft and increasingly Facebook, with the purpose of minimising taxes elsewhere is making fools of policy makers and others in Ireland.’ Response: Morning Michael,/Google employ 1600 people here in Ireland. Best regds John.

Thanks for the €150m payroll cost spent and paper revenues of €10bn.

309,000 officially unemployed and coincidentally there is an official jobs shindig in the Ardilaun Hotel today. Richard Bruton, minister for jobs spin, will be in attendance.

9th Action Plan for Jobs Forum, Ardilaun Hotel, Taylor’s Hill, Galway, 1.30pm, chaired by Minister Ciaran Cannon. This follows Action Plan for Jobs forums previously held in Cork, Waterford, Limerick, Tralee, Wexford, Clontarf, Dublin City Centre and the IFSC

As on previous occasions, in order to facilitate a full exchange of views, the Action Plan for Jobs Forum will not be open to media. There will be two media opportunities, as follow…

A businessperson attending is not going to discuss their sales plans. So the secrecy should be seen as a ministerial protection against the public airing of bitter facts.

The April 2012 Stability Programme Update has GNP forecasts of 2.3% in 2014 and 2015.

Let’s be optimistic and have a scenario of an average of 1% over the next decade.

There is still denial at official level and elsewhere. To counter the fairytales in the public interest, there is a need to face reality by presenting realistic scenarios for the decade ahead.

There is another Irish Times story that illustrates how far Ireland has to go as a well-run, transparent democracy:

RTÉ HAS refused to release details of complaints it has received from politicians and political parties under freedom of information legislation, saying to do so could have “an adverse effect on management”.

The State broadcaster also argued that because it was the only media organ subject to freedom of information (FoI), the release of information could have an adverse effect on its competitive position.

“If politicians and their agents felt that they could not continue normal discourse with RTÉ without all that correspondence being available under FoI, they might consider switching their attention to other broadcasters and the print media, none of whom are subject to FoI,” RTÉ’s freedom of information officer, Peter Feeney, said in a letter refusing access to the material.

A citizen isn’t hauled before the courts for not buying a newspaper and called a sponger!

Northern Irish population : 1.81 million (highest ever)
http://www.nisra.gov.uk/
(Go to News)

Increase of 7% or 125,600…..since 2001.

Given the Growth of towns such as Crumlin it is very strange that the Antrim to Lisburn rail line is not operating a regular service.

Some very striking graphs in this publication
Graph 7A – Proportion of kids 0 -14
Num 1. Rep of Ireland :
Num 2 N. Ireland
Num 3 France
Num 28 Germany (last)

Graph 7C Proportion of those aged 65 and over
Num 1. Germany
Num 2. Italy
Num 23 N. Ireland
Num 28 Rep of Ireland (last)

Explains a few political things……..except in Ireland of course – we are different

Colm McCarthy organising and promoting an event designed to talk up debt hysteria? Call me when he organizes one on creating jobs for people.