US intervention on state-aid cases ratchets up

The US Treasury were obviously unimpressed with the response to Asst. Treasury Secretary Robert Stack’s recent visit to Brussels with Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager responding that “it is the same argument as we have heard before”.

The US clearly feels it is an argument worth making and now Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has written a letter to Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.  It is largely a repetition of the arguments heard before but there are some interesting elements.

On the State Aid case against Ireland in relation to Apple, Lew is pretty clear:

Continue reading “US intervention on state-aid cases ratchets up”

Broad tax bases are desirable

I notice that there is no election thread, which makes sense given that we were probably all fed up with the campaign before it even began. And I’ve nothing original to say on the subject either. But there probably should be an election thread, and if there is to be one, someone has to kick it off by saying something. So, in that spirit: do we all agree that (a) the Irish economy is now recovering, and doesn’t need further stimulus right now; (b) that the Irish economy has proved itself over previous decades to be unusually volatile; (c) that the international outlook right now suggests that there are risks on the horizon; (d) that the Eurozone is a very dangerous place to be anyway, if you are a small country; (e) that broad tax bases are preferable to narrow tax bases; and (f) that given all of the above, arguing for the abolition of the USC or water charges (water charges, as opposed to Irish Water) is grossly irresponsible, and should suffice to disqualify a party from being taken seriously as a “safe pair of hands”?

Global crisis special issue of Economic Policy

A virtual issue of Economic Policy, bringing together a selection of articles dealing with the global financial, and eurozone, crises, is described here and is available here.

The Cheque Republic

Via Warwick’s Prof. Michael McMahon, the Bank of England’s Underground blog features a nice comparison of Ireland in the 1970s and Greece in 2015. Check it out here.

2 research assistantships at the Nevin economic research institute (NERI)

The Nevin Economic Research Institute is recruiting two Research Assistants for its offices in Dublin and Belfast. The posts will provide the successful applicant with an opportunity to contribute to a dynamic research programme covering a range of economic themes. The work will include analysis of data and preparation of working papers and reports as well as presentations at conferences and seminars.

The candidates must have completed or is expected to complete, in 2016, a post-graduate degree in a discipline relevant to the work of the NERI. Strong quantitative skills are essential.

Applications including full CV should be submitted by email to recruit@NERInstitute.net

Closing date for receipt of applications is 5pm FRIDAY 19TH FEBRUARY 2016.

Full details and job description are available at www.NERInstitute.net/recruitment