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.

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 laws on construction in that country. The Irish government is to spend up to €2.5bn of taxpayers' money in remedying faulty buildings, on top of the €1.5bn of taxpayers' money to be spent …

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 …

If Ireland raised its Corporation Tax Rate to 15%, would the economy collapse?

Paul Sweeney 08/07/2021

Ireland has had a low rate of corporation tax of 12.5% since 2003. If two decades later, the rate was raised by 2.5% to a minimum rate of 15%, as …

Irish version Inflation and the Strongest Recovery since WW2

Paul Sweeney 24/06/2021

Inflation is rearing its ugly head again, especially with soaring commodity prices. Inflation was very high in the 1970s and 1980s but it was both …

Every Aspect of our Lives will be Impacted by the Coming Reform of the EU's Fiscal Rules

Paul Sweeney 18/12/2020

Last March in a blog I pointed out that the inane fiscal rules of the EU "the Stability and Growth Pact" (SGP) (also called the Fiscal Rules) were to …

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