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.

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, and I now examine the other six issues.6. Housing It is widely recognised that the financial collapse in 2008 was substantially due to the repackaging and positive …

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 …

Neo-Liberalism and Neo Classical Economics in Ireland

Paul Sweeney 12/06/2023

The President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins' speech at the 21th of anniversary of TASC in April 2023, caused a lot of reaction from mainstream …

What Can Be Done About Faulty Building

Paul Sweeney 10/02/2023

Many of the deaths in the recent Turkish earthquakes could have been prevented had there been better laws and better enforcement of the existing lax …

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 …

Newsletter Sign Up