Category: Fiscal policy

A Defence of Taxation, Revisited

Nat O'Connor 10/03/2026

In 2014, TASC published A Defence of Taxation. Its argument in favour of progressive alternatives to reducing public services through tax cuts remains as salient as ever, and it is an appropriate topic to revisit on the 25th anniversary of TASC. The context has changed, but Ireland’s tax system is still unstable and unsustainable, despite …

Economic Inequality and the Rise of Populism, Revisited

Nat O'Connor 16/02/2026

In 2017, I published a paper entitled Three Connections between Rising Economic Inequality and the Rise of Populism. This has been my most cited …

Major Issues where Mainstream Economists Failed - Part 1

Paul Sweeney 04/07/2023

In the last blog, I examined the President of Ireland's speech critical of the lack of heterodoxy (or differences) in Irish economics. I argued that …

The principle of fair reciprocity can inform taxation in an ecosocial future

Mary Murphy 03/04/2023

This blog was first drafted as the authors speaking notes for a forum ‘The Fiscal Social Contract: How Taxation can be Applied as a Tool for Social …

From Free Market to Subsidised Capitalism

Paul Sweeney 13/10/2022

There has been a revolutionary transformation of Capitalism, the western economic system, in just over a decade. Four extraordinary events have …

Rise in inflation should not last

Paul Sweeney 13/01/2022

A year ago here on Progressive Economy, I asked if inflation was about to take off. Regrettably it has. The Irish Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to …

What was Driving Minister Donohoe's strange behaviour against Tax Reform and Multilateralism?

Paul Sweeney 15/07/2021

Paschal Donohoe is known as a serious, intellectual and committed centre-right politician who has supported international trade, globalisation and …

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