Posts by Paul Sweeney

Paul Sweeney @paulsweeneyman

Paul Sweeney is former Chief Economist of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. He was a President of the Statistical and Social Enquiry Society of Ireland, former member of the Economic Committee of the ETUC, a member of the National Competitiveness Council of Ireland, the National Statistics Board, the ESB, TUAC, (advisor to OECD) and several other bodies. He has written three books on the Irish economy and two on public enterprise, including The Celtic Tiger; Ireland’s Economic Miracle Explained and Selling Out: Privatisation in Ireland, chapters in other books and many articles on economics.

Is the Draghi Report Good for EU Citizens?

Paul Sweeney 17/02/2026

Is the Draghi Report Good for EU Citizens? The EU Commission appointed Mario Draghi to examine how the European economy might be kick-started to boost economic growth. The Draghi report was published in late 2024 running to almost 400 pages. Last week the leaders of all member states met for a big Summit in Belgium to discuss this report and how …

The Revolutionary Impact of Driverless Cars and Taxis

Paul Sweeney 13/08/2025

Billionaire Dermot Desmond recently called for the scrapping of investment in the new Dublin Metro. His reason is actually thoughtful and …

Reviewing Inequality: Understanding Piketty’s Latest Insights on Wealth, Power, and Justice

Paul Sweeney 30/01/2025

Thomas Piketty, was dubbed the "rock star economist" after his best-selling book "Capital in the 21st Century" was published in 2014. It was …

The Ways to Address Core Inequality - Market Inequality.

Paul Sweeney 16/04/2024

It was seen in the last blog on Market Inequality that there are a number of factors creating the problem. The first issue is that the distribution …

Addressing the Core Cause of Inequality

Paul Sweeney 21/03/2024

Ireland has the highest level of market inequality in Europe. However, this is alleviated by our tax and welfare system. Market inequality arises …

Major Issues where Mainstream Economists Failed

Paul Sweeney 20/07/2023

In the last blog, I examined six of twelve major economic issues that mainstream economists failed to see coming or adopted incorrect responses to, …

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 …

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