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.
Will the Rainy Day Fund Become Another Corporate Bailout?
Paul Sweeney 03/09/2018
The last National Pension Reserve Fund was raided & most of it was squandered. Ireland had a Sovereign Wealth Fund – 1% of GNP plus profits …
The Irish Entrepreneurial State
Paul Sweeney 27/06/2018
In the last blog I set out how Aer Lingus, an entrepreneurial Irish state company, grew into a major company with over 14,000 employees in several …
The Irish Entrepreneurial State
Paul Sweeney 11/06/2018
In my last blog I looked at the Wild Atlantic Way as a good example of entrepreneurial thinking by public employees of the Irish state. Mariana …
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 …
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Robert Sweeney
Robert Sweeney is a policy analyst at TASC and focuses on issues surrounding Irish …
Paul Sweeney
Paul Sweeney is former Chief Economist of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. He was a …
Kirsty Doyle
Kirsty Doyle is a Researcher at TASC, working in the area of health inequalities. She is …