Are all economists just focused on growth?

Dr Emma Howard of TUDublin, and chair of the Irish Society of Women in Economics (ISWE), has an opinion piece on TheJournal.ie examining the practice of economics and the work of some of her colleagues in Ireland. You can read it here.

Readers may also be interested to note that at the recent AGM of the Irish Economic Association, a motion was unanimously passed to make ISWE a standing committee within the IEA.

Revenue Annual Report and Research Papers

Last week Revenue published its Annual Report, detailing the activities behind the collection of €82.4 billion in net receipts for the Exchequer in 2022.

https://revenue.ie/en/corporate/press-office/press-releases/2023/pr-042623-annual-report.aspx

Also published (links at the bottom of the page above) are a series of research papers and statistical reports including:

· An analysis of Corporation Tax which profiles 2022 payments and 2021 tax returns, providing considerable detail on what is now the second largest tax in the State.

· An analysis of Income Tax focused on PAYE taxpayers in 2022. The paper exploits the detail generated by real-time reporting systems to provide diverse insights, including on pensions (both contributions and incomes), employment churn, and post-pandemic inequality levels to name a few areas.

· An analysis of VAT which profiles 2022 payments and repayments and provides useful detail on the operation of the tax.

· An analysis of Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) which profiles 2022 payments and reflects the notable changes that have occurred in the vehicle market in recent years due to the impact of Brexit, COVID-19 and climate-focused policies.

Versions of the above papers covering older years can be accessed here: Revenue also published a report on its latest large-scale customer survey, covering SMEs. While its focus is mainly customer service there are also insights related to COVID-19, Brexit and the shadow economy. Finally, Revenue also published its annual illegal tobacco survey results for 2022, the latest statistics on the Debt Warehouse and a statistical overview of PAYE taxpayers who filed Income Tax returns in 2023 Q1 (including a focus on the uptake for the Rent Tax Credit, Remote Working Relief and Health Expenses).

Revenue issues a Statistical Bulletin on a quarterly basis where they advertise new or updated statistical releases published on the Revenue website. Any interested readers can sign up by emailing statistics at revenue dot ie

Irish Economic Association Annual Conference 2023 (Updated)

The 36th Annual Irish Economic Association Conference will be organised by the Economic and Social Research Institute and held in the Sheraton Hotel, Athlone on Thursday, May 4th and Friday, May 5th, 2023.

The IEA 2023 will have two presentation types: 1) Full paper presentation; and 2) Flash Talks.

Full conference presentations are 25 mins in length and require the submission of a full draft paper.

Flash Talks are a new initiative aimed at encouraging early stage researchers wishing to get exposure of their research to the wider economics community. This can be early work in progress. The talks will be 5/10 mins each with a maximum of 3 slides. Flash Talk submissions only require an extended abstract (2 pages approx).

The submissions deadline is 23:59 GMT on Friday 24 February 2023.   Submissions can be made via the conference website which is available at:

https://iea2023.exordo.com/

The Conference will feature two international plenary lectures – the Edgeworth Lecture and the ESR Lecture.  A number of prizes will be awarded including the Denis Conniffe prize for the best paper by a young economist, the Brendan Walsh prize for the best paper published in the Economic and Social Review, the Novartis prize for the best health economics paper, and the Irish Society for Women in Economics (ISWE) prize for the best paper presented by a women economist.

Online Event: Reconstructing the Economy of Ukraine

The J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics and the Whitaker Institute for Innovation and Societal Change at NUI Galway will host an online event on Reconstructing the Economy of Ukraine at 6.00 p.m. (Irish time) on April 26. The event is free but registration is required. To register for the event, please go to:

Webinar Registration – Zoom

The main speaker is Professor Tymofiy Mylovanov. Professor Mylovanov is the President of Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) and Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Pittsburgh. He served as Minister of Economic Development, Trade, and Agriculture in Ukraine from 2019 to 2020.

Also speaking will be Professor Barry Eichengreen. Professor Eichengreen is the George C. Pardee & Helen N. Pardee Chair and Distinguished Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has served as a Senior Policy Advisor to the International Monetary Fund.

The event will be chaired by Dr. Edel Doherty, Lecturer in Economics at NUI Galway.

Fiscal Council Webinar on Long-Run Public Finance Data

The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council is launching some new research and a new database of the Irish public finances since the foundation of the State.

It is organising a webinar exploring some of the key tax and spending trends over the past century with Professor Patrick Honohan as a discussant.

The webinar takes place on Thursday 21st April at 10am and you can register by signing up at:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Qga6g2ctRC-v2bgtqEe_uQ

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.