Did anyone catch the curious symmetry?  On the day that unemployment, once again, shot up, AIB announced their half-yearly profits.  Two different worlds on this small island. Not that there weren’t…

It was only a matter of time before the business sector opened up another front in the recession wars.  Hamburger king Pat McDonagh of Supermac has accused the Government of…

The bloggers over at Dublin Opinion are forever uncovering gems.  Their latest little dig, courtesy of Conor, brings us ‘Charley’s March of Time’– an animated promotional film produced by the British…

So, ‘curbing’ public spending growth is the only option.  Thus spake Paul Tansey in last Friday’s Irish Times.  Working from figures supplied by the Department of Finance, he attempts to…

Ah, the Sabbath and one is put in mind of Iris Robinson’s insistence that Governments must pursue God’s law.Now I don’t pretend to know more than the next congregant but…

I have a friend with a strange sense of humour.  His email says only ‘Enjoy the weekend’.  But attached is a news statement from the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises…

It is a well-known fact that public sector workers are (a) greedy, (b) not productive (in fact they’re anti-productive), (c) over-paid and under-worked with big fat pensions, and (d) the…

If it wasn’ t great over the last few years, how much worse can it get?  Recently, we have had to endure a mish-mash of confused debates over the ‘middle…

You know its recession time – the unemployed are getting hammered. Mary Hanafin, straight from slashing the education system in her previous portfolio, is now getting her hooks into those…

Here’s a recession tip for you:  join a trade union.  Get your friends, workmates and family to join a trade union.  It will improve your living standards, help economic growth…

It gets worser and worser.  Davy has just issued their predictions for the economy.  One always has to treat Davy with a large grain of salt.  They tend to be…

If you were to correct every misconception, every mistake, every misrepresentation – every piece of sloppy journalism regarding the economic facts that spews our every day in the Irish media,…

What better way to spend a lazy afternoon than reading National Competitiveness Council reports, in particular its submission to the Commission on Taxation?  The NCC is full of information but they…

In these recession days we will be inundated with a carnival numbers and percentages.  They will come so thick and fast it will be almost impossible to deal with every…

Ah, the haute bourgeoisie – I know the old Scotsman warned us against letting them talk to each other.  This is wise counsel but I have found that they can…

Retraining is all the political rage.  To deal with rising unemployment and slowing job creation, the opposition parties are demanding a programme of retraining – in particular, those being laid off…

Here’s a thought courtesy of Cllr. Eric Byrne – a suggestion so common-sensical its’ frightening.  Immediately after Bernard McNamara did a runner on the PPPs in Dublin city, Cllr. Byrne…

Sometimes, it’s the little things that get up your wick.  The Sunday Business Post produced one of those little calculations to suggest how expensive it is, how draining on our…

Our man from Ongar, Leo Varadkar, TD, is in madness mode.   At a debate on the Future of Social Partnership at the Young Fine Gael Summer School he demanded: ‘…