Category: Economics

Next Generation Ireland

Am a bit late to this, but better late than never. Ronan Lyons, who has indirectly contributed a lot of material to this blog, and Ed Burke are co-editors of a new book called Next Generation Ireland. The book includes contributions from Ronan Lyons and Ed Burke themselves who give an introductory essay. Ronan also provides a chapter on improving the public sector and a co-authored chapter with Stephen Kinsella on improving fiscal policy in terms of both levels and composition. Eoin O’Malley takes on the issue of political and governmental reform. Michael Courtney has a chapter on identity, migration and citizenship. Michael King offers a chapter on improving competitiveness. Joseph Curtin has a chapter on environmental issues. Aoibhin de Burca has a chapter on North-South and Ireland-UK relations. Neil Sands and Nicola White provide an essay on the global extent of Irish identity and the importance of thinking along these dimensions. Co-editor Ed Burke’s final chapter is on Irish foreign policy.

Please feel free to use this post to debate aspects of the book if you have read it. Might also be worth debating what qualities the next generation of people who influence policy and business in Ireland should possess.

Brookings Papers are now freely available for all

The Brookings Papers on Economic Activity are now freely available on the web. This is a really terrific resource which I hope will be of interest to lots of our readers. For example, you can read what some of the top economists in the world were saying at the time about the Latin American debt crisis of the 1980s, the EMS crisis of 1992/3, and the East Asian crisis of the late 1990s, to name just three examples.

Bloomberg Profile of Patrick Honohan

The article is here.

Economics Editor Job

For the journalists who read this blog, this BBC opportunity in Belfast may be of interest – details here.

Welfare and incentives

Some of my students today complained – softly – about the workings of the Back to Education Allowance.    Like many such schemes globally it allows for some mechanism to maintain welfare payments whilst returning to full time education at both second and third level.   Laudable enough, although  I haven’t seen this evaluated in terms of impact but then again what is new for Irish policy.

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