Economist vacancy at TILDA

Details here.

Spring 2014 Issue of ESR

Vol 45, No 1, Spring (2014): with Policy Papers from ‘Future Directions of the Irish Economy’ Conference, 10 January 2014

Table of Contents

Articles

The Influence of Family Structure on Child Outcomes: Evidence for Ireland PDF
Carmel Hannan, Brendan Halpin 1-24
Socio-economic Inequalities in Child Health in Ireland PDF
Anne Nolan, Richard Layte 25-64
Minority Status, Social Welfare Status and their Association with Child Participation in Sporting, Cultural and Community Activities PDF
Bryan Coughlan, Edel Doherty, Ciaran O’Neill, Brian E. McGuire 65-85

Policy Section Articles

Ireland’s Medium-Term Growth Prospects: a Phoenix Rising? PDF
Nicholas Crafts 87-112
Ireland’s Banking System – Looking Forward PDF
Thorsten Beck 113-134
Ireland’s Fiscal Framework: Options for the Future PDF
George Kopits 135-158

Caterpillar at the US Senate

The latest company to come under the spotlight of the US Senate Permanent Sub-Committee on Investigations is heavy-goods manufacturer, Caterpillar.  Here is the report prepared by the Sub-Committee staff in advance of today’s hearing.  There is also a statement from the Committee Chairman, Sen. Carl Levin (D).

The hearing will feature three panels of witnesses and will be streamed here.  The second panel comprises some representatives from Pricewaterhousecoopers.  The Sub-Committee obtained internal documents and communications between the PwC representatives which are referenced in the report.

The key feature of the US tax code that is in question is once again are the provisions that have eroded the effectiveness of the Subpart F anti-deferral regime introduced in the 1960s for passive income earned outside the US.  Under Subpart F this should trigger an immediate tax liability regardless of whether the profits are repatriated but there are a range of provisions that allow a deferral of the tax payment as is the general case with active income.  The scheme put in place by Caterpillar avails of both the manufacturing exemption and the export exemption in the US tax code.  Features such as “check-the box” and transfer-pricing rules also play a role.  Once again there is the accusation that a US company was able to negotiate a “special tax rate” in a low-tax country.

For those whose only interest is a Ctrl-F of the Senate report here is the sole mention of Ireland:

The decline in corporate tax revenues is due in part to more corporate income being reported abroad in low-tax jurisdictions. A number of studies show that U.S. multinational corporations are moving income out of or away from the United States into low or no tax jurisdictions, including tax havens such as Ireland, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands.

Climate Change

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) is available here.
Richard Tol’s critique published in the Financial Times is available here.

Plan B

Cormac Lucey on how leaving the euro can save Ireland.

The chart accompanying the piece comes from page 51 of this 2013 Selected Issues Paper as part of the IMF Article IV Consultation with the Euro Area.