Terry McDonagh passed away this week. A professor at NUI, Galway for many years, he was an inspiring teacher and a key researcher in more heterodox approaches to economics. I studied under him and recall his clear lecturing style, his wit, and his dedication to the ideas he thought most important. Readers may wish to submit their own tributes to Terry in the comments below.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h’anam dílis.
Prof. Peter Neary has died. Readers interested should check out his webpage and CV for a sense of the depth and breadth of his contributions to the international trade literature. His work was recently celebrated by his former UCD colleagues and can be watched here. Please use the comment function if you’d like to pay tribute to a great economist.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h’anam dílis.
The Central Bank is looking to fill two economist-statistician roles, in the following two areas.
The first role will be responsible for Quarterly Financial accounts (QFA). The QFA provides comprehensive information not only on the economic activities of households, non-financial corporates, financial corporations and Government, but also on the interactions between these sectors as well as the rest of the world. The successful candidate will work on developing the methodological aspects of QFA, lead the research and analysis of the Distributional Financial Accounts and ensure the ECB and national requirements and timelines are met.
The second role will oversee analysis of the Pension Fund and Insurance Corporation statistical collections. The team is responsible for collection and analysis of data on the insurance corporation and pension fund sectors in Ireland. The successful candidate will contribute towards the analytical development of a new statistical series on the Irish pension fund sector and coordinate ECB statistical requirements across both areas.
The closing date for receipt of applications is 25th June. For further details, including how to apply, see the Central Bank careers webpage.
Details of the Economic Recovery Plan are available here.
The Statistical & Social Inquiry Society of Ireland is delighted to open a call for entrants for the Barrington Prize for its 175th session, which takes place between September 2021 and June 2022. More details are given below.
Call for entrants
The Barrington Medal is awarded annually by the Council of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland under the auspices of the Barrington Trust (founded in 1836 by the bequest of John Barrington). The award, which includes both a silver medal and €1,000, is intended to recognise a promising new researcher in the economic and social sciences in Ireland. This will be the 172nd anniversary of the lecture series and the recipient will be the 131st Barrington Lecturer. Recipients in the past 35 years include:
Deirdre McHugh, Don Thornhill, George Lee, Alan Joyce, Daniel McCoy, Brian Lucey, Kevin O’Rourke, Siobhan Lucey, Mary Walsh, Philip Lane, Aidan Kane, Donal O’Neill, Peter Clinch, Colm Harmon, Ronnie O’Toole, Cathal O’Donoghue, Paul McNicholas, Mary Keeney, Liam Delaney, Martina Lawless, Cal Muckley, Orla Doyle, Yvonne McCarthy, Ronan Lyons, Mark McGovern, Rebecca Stuart, Karina Doorley, Daragh Clancy, Barra Roantree, and Niall Farrell.
The lecture should be based on a paper of not more than 7,500 words addressing a topic of relevance to economic or social policy and of current interest in Ireland. In treating the issue of economic or social policy, the paper may either report the findings of a statistical research study dealing with some aspect of the problem or deal with the underlying theoretical considerations involved, or preferably combine these two approaches. It should be written in a manner that makes it accessible to non-specialists in the area. More technical material may be included in an appendix. The paper is published in the Journal of the Society, so it should not have been published before (nor should it be published subsequently without the prior consent of the Council of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland).
Candidates, who at the time of their submission must be not more than 35 years of age, should at least submit a detailed abstract of approximately 1,000 words on the proposed lecture, with preference being given to full papers. A short CV and the name of a proposer who is familiar with their work should also be submitted. Entries will be accepted from 1st June to 31st August, 2021 and should be sent to the Honorary Secretaries of the Society, via email, using the email address secretary@ssisi.ie, as should any queries regarding this call for entrants.