The media have picked up an old paper, which was summarised in a recent report.
The Irish Independent got it right: Long-distance commuters are hit hardest by the carbon tax (no surprise there). The Irish Examiner somehow turns this into “rural Ireland”. The paper clearly shows, though, that the tax incidence is lowest in the city centres, increases in the commuter belt, and falls again in the “deep countryside”.
Today’s IT carries an article by Brian Lucey on recent banking developments. You can read it here.
Wolfgang Munchau of the FT says no (at least for the euro area): you can read his article here.
Despite NTMA chief John Corrigan’s position last week that the state expected to receive its cash dividend of €250 million from Bank of Ireland at some point soon and so would not be getting ordinary shares in lieu, the Bank has today announced that they will be issuing ordinary shares for this amount to the government on Monday February 22. Announcement here. The Department of Finance response to is here. Hat tip to commenter Frank Galton.
A couple of new papers from the IIIS may be of interest:
Philip R. Lane, Trinity College Dublin and CEPR
Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, International Monetary Fund, Research Department and CEPR
IIIS Discussion Paper No. 316
Abstract: We document and assess the role of small financial centers in the international financial system using a newly-assembled dataset. We present estimates of the foreign asset and liability positions for a number of the most important small financial centers, and place these into context by calculating the importance of these locations in the global aggregate of crossborder investment positions. We also report data on bilateral cross-border investment patterns, highlighting which countries engage in financial trade with small financial centers.
Patrick Honohan and Gavin Murphy
Institute for International Integration Studies, Trinity College Dublin
IIIS Discussion Paper No. 317
Abstract
Ireland had been considering a break in the long-standing currency link with sterling for some time when the ideal opportunity of a new exchange rate regime – potentially retaining the sterling link while stabilizing other exchange rates – seemed to offer itself in the form of the “zone of monetary stability in Europe” proposed by France and Germany in April 1978. Based on newly released archives, this paper reviews the evolving attitude of Irish officials and the Irish Government over the following months as the decision gradually shifted to one of breaking the sterling link and rejoining what was little more than an expanded “Snake” arrangement; the UK having decided to stay out. While financial issues were to the fore in the discussions, the final decision to join was based on a strategic vision that Ireland’s economic and political future lay with Europe rather than with the former colonial power.