Electric vehicles

The Guardian reports that electric cars are not selling well in the UK.

The CSO does not report sales of electric cars, but it does report “other fuel types” which, by elimination, must mean electric. In 2008, 6 such cars were registered, or 0.004% of all new cars. This rose to 9 (0.017%) in 2009, 23 (0.027%) in 2010 and 45 (0.054%) in the first nine months of 2011.

Hybrids are doing better: 2,600 were sold in 2008-2011, or 0.7%.

The government still aims for one in ten all-electric by 2020 (on the road, not new sales; see Hennessy and Tol (2011, Fig 10) for an estimate of the impact on carbon dioxide emissions). That is roughly 230,000 cars. We’ve bought the first 83. Only 229,917 to go. (The target for 2012 is a more modest 6,000.) .

The ESB has put up a good few charging points. Initially, power was given away for free, but I can’t find evidence that that is still the case. There is a purchase subsidy of 5,000 euro per car, and a zero VRT. The motor tax is 146 euro per year.

Car buyers are apparently not impressed by the subsidies and tax breaks on offer, and the exchequer is not losing any money on this scheme. However, the investment by the ESB is pointless. Instead, they could have paid the money as a dividend to the government.

Maastricht Letter: Irish Government Debt Dynamics

The “Maastricht Letter” provides a lot of detail concerning the government debt dynamics  – available here.

Economics and Psychology One-Day Conference

The importance of integrating both psychology and economic history into economics and economic policy has been borne out in recent years (see my Kenmare talk for brief overview of some recent developments in behavioral economics). For the last five years or so, we have been holding some events to develop research at the intersection of economics and psychology in Ireland. The speakers are a mix of PhD students, researchers in public institutions and academics. This year’s main session take place at the Geary Institute on Friday November 25th. All are welcome. Please RSVP to geary@ucd.ie There will be a special issue of the ESR based on some of the papers from this year’s session. The panel session will be used to discuss how developments in the recent literature have policy relevance. There is no registration charge.

Programme:

9.00: REGISTRATION


9.15: Organ Donation and Individual Consent- The role of Family Consent in Donation Systems.
Clare Delargy- UCD Geary Institute

9.45: Credit Cards: Friend or Foe.
Yvonne McCarthy – Central Bank of Ireland.

10.15: Understanding Taxpayer Behaviour – New Opportunities for Tax Administration.
Keith Walsh- Revenue Commissioners

10.45: BREAK

11.00: Deity and Development: A Study of the Impact of Religious Culture upon Social and Economic Development.
Ryan McKee- Queen’s University Belfast

11.30: The Role of Economic Psychology in Students’ Term-Time Employment and Academic Achievement.
Martin Ryan- UCD Geary Institute

12.00: LUNCH

13.00: Corruption and Well-Being
Rob Gillanders – University College Dublin

13.30: Subcultures in Household Financial Decision-Making: An Exploratory Study of Risky Asset Ownership in the Netherlands.
Michael Dowling- DCU

14.00:BREAK

14.15: Behavioural Economics and participation in recycling programmes
Marie Brugligio- University of Malta

14.45: Behavioural Economics and Policymaking: Learning from the Early Adopters.
Pete Lunn, ESRI

15.15: BREAK

15.30: Behavioural Economics and the Irish Pension System
Liam Delaney- Stirling University and Geary Institute

16.00: Is the health impact of socioeconomic status explained by objective financial resources or subjective social status?
Michael Daly – Manchester and Aberdeen.

16.30: Panel Discussion

Troika Statement on Conclusion of Review Mission

The statement is here.

The government’s statement is here and specifies some changes to the MOU:

There were a number of changes agreed to the Memorandum of Understanding, which include:
  • As already set out by Minister Noonan: “Initial resolution funding for Credit Unions of €250 million will be made available from the Exchequer in quarter 4 2011″ – which will be based on a principle of recoupment over the medium term via a levy under the Central Bank and Credit Institutions (Resolution)(No.2) Bill 2011 (when enacted).
  • Credit union legislation to be published by quarter 2 2012.
  • The fiscal responsibility bill to be published by quarter 1 2012.

    • Institutional Sector Non-Financial and Financial Accounts for 2010


    The release is here.

    The data for the Non-Financial Accounts are here.

    The data for the Financial Accounts are here.