Here is the paper by Colm McCarthy from last night’s SSISI fiscal workshop
Category: Fiscal Policy
Writing in today’s Irish Times about the upcoming budget, Pat McArdle states
the first thing to do is to try to disentangle the two crises that confront us, namely, the bailout of the banking system and the budget. The two are inextricably but incorrectly linked in the public mind.
He is highly critical of people who suggest there is any such link and the piece includes the now-standard McArdle swipe at academics who “should know better.”
McArdle’s principle objection is to those who see any link between the €4 billion injected into Anglo Irish Bank this year (and perhaps a similar amount next year) and the €4 billion in tax and spending adjustments scheduled for the upcoming budget.
I’m almost reluctant to write about this topic because of the level of hysteria that it provokes. Still, we cannot deny that a national public sector strike is an important topic worthy of debate on this blog.
My overall reaction is that the debate about public sector pay is descending, perhaps predictably, into a damaging battle between vested interests. There is much to dislike on both sides of the debate.