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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 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.

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 …

Is Inflation about to take off again?

Paul Sweeney 04/12/2020

Irish Consumer Prices fell by 1.5% in the year to October 2020. Euro area prices also fell in the year, by -0.3%. Irish consumer price levels are the …

An effective corporation-tax system for the EU

Paul Sweeney 07/11/2020

This blog post first appeared in Social Europe. The European social contract is broken. The largest companies are no longer contributing …

A Budget for the Times

Paul Sweeney 09/10/2020

The 2021 Budget will be extraordinary and it could be transformative. It will push the country into even higher debt - with the state spending much, …

Book review and summary: "Deaths of despair: the future of capitalism"

Paul Sweeney 12/08/2020

This book will give you a greater understanding of why so many people support Donald Trump. It will also shock you with some of the statistics and …

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