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Posts by Paul Sweeney

Paul Sweeney @paulsweeneyman

Paul Sweeney is former Chief Economist of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. He is a member of the Economic Committee of the ETUC and chair of TASC’s Economists’ Network. He was a President of the Statistical and Social Enquiry Society of Ireland, 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.

An Irish Entrepreneurial State’s Success

Paul Sweeney 25/04/2018

In a recent blog, we saw how economist Mariana Mazzucato demonstrated that it was not the hugely profitable and tax-avoiding tech firms which were …

Corporates out of control

Paul Sweeney 18/04/2018

The revelation that the chairman of the Independent News Group suggested in 2016 that Ireland’s largest media group should be run in the interests …

Can we learn from the US? DARPA - Public Entrepreneurship in practice?

Paul Sweeney 10/04/2018

We Europeans generally feel superior to Americans, particularly on policies in healthcare, welfare, and the organisation of society. But perhaps …

Two Government Plans

Paul Sweeney 16/02/2018

The publication of two major government plans on investment, the NDP and the National Planning Framework was welcome. It is commendable that both …

Many Lessons from the Carrillion Collapse

Paul Sweeney 23/01/2018

Many Lessons from the Carrillion Collapse. The collapse of the huge construction and outsourcing company, Carrillion, in Britain, has many lessons …

Varadkar turns out to be a surprising believer in State enterprise

Paul Sweeney 01/01/2018

Looking back over the year, an interesting speech by the Taoiseach, which got lost in the confusion around Brexit, deserves attention for three …

Eurofound

Paul Sweeney 19/12/2017

Eurofound My last blog focused on growing inequalities in Europe, which it was argued, is due to the breakdown in the Post War Social Compact (PWSC). …

The new European Pillar of Social Rights should help address Inequalities

Paul Sweeney 30/11/2017

On 17 November, A European Pillar of Social Rights was declared in Gothenburg by the European Parliament, Council and Commission. This Pillar …

Public Investment Good, Financialisation Bad

Paul Sweeney 14/06/2017

An interesting speaker at this Friday’s TASC conference in Croke Park will be Ṏzlem Onaran, Professor of Economics, University of Greenwich. She …