Year: 2012

The European Commission Representation in Ireland is supporting a special one day conference in Galway for social media practitioners entitled “Challenges facing the Irish Economy “.

When: Saturday 24th March at 11.00 am, with registration from 10.30 am

Where: Aras Moyola Building, National University of Ireland, Galway

This conference is aimed particularly at social media practitioners and will bring together journalists, academics, politicians, and business people with an interest in web-based technologies to look at some of the complex issues facing Ireland’s economy.

The internet is a powerful tool in communicating the economic challenges Ireland is currently facing. Social media and special web based tools all have a role to play in communication between the public and key decision makers. The general public has become much more economically-literate and informed since the beginning of the crisis – how much of this can we put down to increased accessibility of economists and their ideas online? And has it changed how academics and the world of politics interact?

These and other questions will be put on the table and some well-known economists have kindly agreed to kick off the discussions:

Professor John McHale
Professor and Head of Economics at the National University of Ireland, Galway

Presentation Slides 

Dr Aidan Kane
Lecturer in economics at the National University of Ireland, Galway

Presentation Slides

Seamus Coffey
Lecturer in economics at the University College Cork

Presentation Slides

Ronan Lyons
Economist at daft.ie, DPhil candidate at Balliol College, Oxford & adjunct lecturer at Trinity College, Dublin

Presentation Slides

 
Margaret E. Ward, financial journalist and author will host the conference.

Eamon Quinn reports on an interview with a Moody’s analyst here.

The staff of Financial Stability Division of the Central Bank has put together a review of the macro-financial risks facing Ireland – it is available here.

The Macro-Financial Review provides a systematic overview of macro-financial conditions in Ireland and forms part of the Bank’s internal discussions about financial stability.

It is clear that, despite the exceptional scale of policy interventions domestically and significant progress in the stabilisation and restructuring of the financial system, its transition to a fully normal mode of functioning is not yet complete.   In addition, there are risks which remain.   This Review assembles some of the material which is kept under surveillance by the Financial Stability Division of the Central Bank.   Naturally, the downside risks are focussed upon, but it is worth recalling that better-than-expected outcomes are also possible.

Policymakers are, of course, aware of these risks and, in addition to the extensive measures already taken, will continue to address and respond to the challenges posed by them on an on-going basis.  The Review does not attempt to discuss or evaluate the overall policy measures that are in effect and currently under review to mitigate known risks.

While the document has been reviewed by the Bank’s Financial Stability Committee, the views expressed are those of the staff of the Financial Stability Division, which is responsible for its preparation.

It is made available to the public to heighten awareness of the current condition of the financial sector.   It is hoped that by publishing it, the Central Bank will help decision-makers in the financial sector correctly evaluate risks and ensure that the risk management tools are appropriate and adequate.

The Brookings Papers on Economic Activity is a major venue for new research in applied macroeconomics and finance. The conference papers are here.  I can recommend Jay Shambaugh’s paper on the euro crisis, while the papers by DeLong/Summers, Stock/Watson and Dynan are all also directly relevant.

The Economist reports here.