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Category: Fiscal policy

The EU’s Inane Fiscal Rules are finally relaxed

Paul Sweeney 18/03/2020

At last, the inane Fiscal Rules are to be relaxed. It took the Covid19 crisis to force this action by the EU leadership. In a recent blog I set out …

The Irish fiscal straitjacket

Robert Sweeney 30/10/2019

These are eventful times for the Irish economy. We are told a variety of ‘storm clouds’ have been forming internationally which, it is claimed, …

What next for Irish unemployment policy?

07/06/2019

By Dr Tom Boland and Dr Ray Griffin WUERC, Waterford Institute of Technology Kindly funded through the IRC New Horizons Interdisciplinary Research …

Statistics don’t always tell the truth

Sinead Pembroke 08/05/2018

Today, statistics are major currencies in policy discussions and debates. They are used as weapons by government ministers, politicians and political …

Some Missing Elements in the Pensions Debate

Michelle Maher 19/05/2017

In Ciarán Hancock’s recent (10 May) Irish Times article Time for the Government to Introduce Pension Auto-enrolment, he makes a welcome call for …

Can Special Purpose Vehicles help alleviate the Housing Crisis?

Tom Healy 30/01/2017

A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) is a technical term that refers to a wide variety of arrangements where a financial entity is established for a …

Much Progress on Costly and Wasteful Tax Breaks but Radical Change is now Needed.

Paul Sweeney 08/11/2016

Paul Sweeney: There has been much progress in getting rid of the most wasteful and destructive tax breaks, but many remain. Indeed a radical approach …

Housing and homelessness crisis worsens

Rory Hearne 25/08/2016

Rory Hearne: This week’s figures on homelessness and rent increases provide further evidence of the on-going housing crisis. Unfortunately the …

Has the OECD abandoned its neo-liberal taxation policies?

Paul Sweeney 27/07/2016

Paul Sweeney: The OECD has relentlessly pursued a neo-liberal taxation policy. It seldom uses the word taxation without the appendage “burden” …