Month: March 2013

New from Department of Finance

12-3-2013 Appearance of Secretary General, Mr John Moran before the Public Accounts Committee on 7th March 2013
12-3-2013 Publication of the Mercer Review of Remuneration Practices and Frameworks at the Covered Institutions
12-3-2013 Presentation on Mercer Review of Remuneration Practices and Frameworks at the Covered Institutions
12-3-2013 Mercer Review of Remuneration Practices and Frameworks at the Covered Institutions

The Challenge of Debt Reduction during Fiscal Consolidation

The IMF has a useful new paper on the possibility of self-defeating austerity.    Paul Krugman responds here.   The paper shows that fiscal adjustments will bring the debt to GDP ratio down over time relative to a no-adjustment baseline, although the ratio will rise in the short run when the multiplier is greater than one.   For the Irish case, this phenomenon was pointed out in the April 2012 Fiscal Assessment Report from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (see Box C, p. 45).   See also posts here and here.    The IMF paper also has an interesting suggestion for setting and monitoring debt targets in cyclically adjusted terms. 

Austerity as an Idea

Henry Farrell writes about a forthcoming book by Mark Blyth on the history of austerity as an idea, I’ll certainly be picking up a copy. Given that Ireland is currently the poster child for austerity, the book is timely.

Ireland and the European Union—Shared Determination, Shared Destiny

Lagarde speech here.

New from Department of Finance

8-3-2013 Monthly Economic Bulletin – March 2013
7-3-2013 Department of Finance Annual Review
7-3-2013 Ireland’s Report Card March 2013
7-3-2013 Report on Recommendations of Internal and External reviews of GG Debt Statistics
7-3-2013 Opening address by Secretary General to Public Accounts Committee