Category: Economics


Blockchain is a 32-Year-Old Gimmick – Public support should end

Robert Sweeney 30/05/2023

Blockchain is old hat. In 1991 blockchain was first proposed by two scientists at Bell Labs, long enough for the technology to mature and stand on its own feet. However, €347 million of EU funding has been approved to promote blockchain, while this week Irish government agencies divert resources hoping this generation old technology will be the …



Fiscal Rules Update

Robert Sweeney 15/05/2023

Last month the EU Commission released a communication on the fiscal rules that would, if implemented, have major implications for Europe. It would …

Energy poverty, environmental degradation, lack of affordable housing and the rise of the far right

Shana Cohen 09/05/2023

This article was first published in The Irish Times on the 9th of May 2023.   President Michael D Higgins’s 

On Economics

Robert Sweeney 08/05/2023

President Higgins’ comments on economics made a bit of a kerfuffle. He criticised, among other things, an obsession with economic growth, the …

Ireland’s Tech Boom

Rory O'Farrell 18/11/2022

Over the past decade, Ireland’s tech sector boomed. From 2012 to 2022, employment almost doubled, while wages for such workers rose 47 percent …

Fiscal Rules Reform

Robert Sweeney 17/11/2022

On Wednesday last week, the European Commission published a communication on the future trajectory of the Fiscal Rules, which have been suspended …

Wage Theft in Ireland (Part 2)

Michelle O'Sullivan 04/11/2022

A Progressive Economy blog earlier this year (14th April) highlighted the growing concern internationally with the phenomenon of wage theft, …

Newsletter Sign Up  

Categories

Contributors

Paul Sweeney

Paul Sweeney is former Chief Economist of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. He was a …

Vic Duggan

Vic Duggan is an independent consultant, economist and public policy specialist catering …

Shana Cohen

Dr. Shana Cohen is the Director of TASC. She studied at Princeton University and at the …



Podcasts