As part of the European Semester, euro area countries publish updates of their Stability Programmes in April of each year. The draft of Ireland’s 2021 SPU has been published by the Department of Finance and is available here.
As well as the draft SPU itself, the Department have posted additional material such as a spreadsheet of past forecasts and a snapshot of real-time economic indicators. These can also be found at the link above.
One reply on “Stability Programme Update, April 2021”
All wonderful stuff. But we’re being inundated with so much of this stuff that anyone who isn’t paid full time to work in this area hasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of getting a grip on it. It’s just perfect for the permanent and transient governments so that they can project wonderful optical illusions and the ordinary citizen, in so far as he or she pays any attention, is totally bemused and befuddled. But they have a suspicion they’re being sold a pup and they know that a lot of what’s being spouted bears no relationship to their lived reality, but they simply don’t have the time, interest or ability to dig in to the minutiae. Most of the mainstream media have been suborned, so they’re no help to ordinary voters. However, many have come to the conclusion that most of it is bullshit that serves the interests of those who exercise political, economic and organisational power and we’re seeing increasing polarisation in politics, the economy and society.
Unfortunately, many of the policies being advanced in opposition to the policy consensus advanced by the permanent and transient governments, and which secure considerable popular support, are based to a significant extent on economic illiteracy, pseudo-leftery and virulent ethno-nationalism.
It is fortunate though that the Biden admininistration is pivoting determinedly away from the dogma of the misnamed neoliberalism that has ruled the roost for the last four decades. However, it may take some time before it impacts benefically on the rest of the western advanced economies because the current dysfunctional policy consensus in the EU is deeply embedded. Simon Wren-Lewis presents a corruscating critique of this policy framework with which this SPU complies:
https://mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2021/04/eurozone-fiscal-rules-should-be-based.html