is here
Paul unsurprisingly focuses on regulation and energy. The piece starts with some common misconceptions about energy prices before arguing the case of vertical disintegration and privatisation.
Category: Competition policy
We made a submission to the Review Group on State Assets and Liabilities.
We argue for privatisation of everything that is not a natural monopoly, but not without proper regulation first. We also say that the government should stop giving away intangible assets. We cast the net a bit wider than the interim mandate of An Bord Strip.
CT&T, a specialist manufacture of all-electric vehicles with big ambitions, has decided to put its European headquarters in … Amsterdam.
Apparently, they plan to build 20,000 vehicles next year and 60,000 in 2013. Wikipedia has nice pictures. Would you pay €15,000 for that?
We need to cut costs and increase productivity to pay the mounting debt. It is disconcerting that Ireland dropped from being the 22nd most competitive economy in 2009 to the 29th in 2010, according to the World Economic Forum.
People pay attention to the overall indicator and rank, but the subindicators tell the real story. There are no surprises, really, but it is a sobering read.
Here are some the negative trends:
*Public trust of politicians: 37 to 65
— higher numbers are worse, as countries are ranked from 1 to 139
*Wastefulness of government spending: 45 to 93
*Burden of government regulation: 61 to 87
*Efficiency of legal framework: 22 to 27
*Government deficit: 55 to 130
*Savings rate: 75 to 119
*Government debt: 51 to 112
*Intensity of local competition: 39 to 51
*Time required to start a business: 24 to 45
*Brain drain: 10 to 19
*Financing through local equity market: 51 to 105
*Ease of access to loans: 19 to 117
*Soundness of banks: 9 to 139 (bottom of the pile)
*Regulation of security exchanges: 16 to 90
*Capacity for innovation: 26 to 31
*Government procurement of advanced tech: 43 to 75
There are positive trends too:
*Quality of infrastructure (6 indices, all up)
*Inflation: 48 to 3
*Interest rate: 63 to 11 (I guess the data are older than a few weeks)
*Pay and productivity: 76 to 56
Ireland is still the best place in the world if you worry about malaria. The judiciary is still strong. And foreign investors are still treated well.
My piece in yesterday’s Sunday Business Post builds on my post of last week. I also included elements of the discussion (thanks!), particularly expanding the bits on import substitution. Having studied in the Netherlands, import substitution was long ago and far away, so I would understand why the average Dutchie would be oblivious to its drawbacks. In Ireland, on the other hand, this policy was tried in living memory.
One of my recommendations is apparently already being followed up.