My oh my. Standard and Poor’s (S&P) has downgraded the Irish Government’s credit rating – from AAA to AA+. The fiscal reactionaries are in party-mode. ‘We told you so, we…

Labour is quickly approaching a crossroads. It is seemingly torn in two directions: a new stimulus strategy that prioritises rising unemployment and declining economic activity; or an accommodation with the…

A good friend made a bet with me in January. He wagered the economy would contract by 10 percent or more by the end of the year. I gladly took…

Leaving aside the sting in the tail which I will get to below (and it’s a big tail, the sting will really hurt), what would you say about a proposal…

Sinn Fein has produced a substantial and positive contribution to the debate on creating and saving jobs in our recessionary economy. ‘Getting Ireland Back to Work’ contains more than 80…

This was originally written for Irish Left Review Dear Sarah I read with interest your recent Irish Times column - 'Nemesis for decades of cosy consensus on tax‘. I was particularly struck…

The slogan 'Capitalism is boring' was championed by the Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination (though whether they first came up with it, I don' t know; I suspect workers down the…

There is a sense that, if we could just overcome these temporary setbacks (recession, credit crunch, low export demand) then we might find our way back to a more benign…

Mark Conroy, who kindly posted my essay ‘Towards a New Economic Narrative’ on Indymedia, noted my comment that it was growing quickly out-of-date and asked: 'In what way is it…

Indymedia has kindly posted my article ‘Towards A New Economic Narrative’. But I fear it is quickly growing out of date. The speed at which the economy is melting down…

Jim O’Leary rightfully points out our tendency to view our problems in isolation from the rest of the world – as if we were somehow unique. He suggests we look…

So, the Brians are asking for advice. We should not begrudge them. It is time for all ‘good patriots’ to step forward and give our faltering government a helping hand.…

There is an almighty locomotive train of a consensus coming down the tracks at us: taxation. Many commentators are demanding that tax increases be substantial and immediate. Can this help…