Finally, some good ol' fashioned common sense is being spoken – and in the Irish Times, as well.  Prionsias Breathnach of NUI Maynooth takes on calls for wage cuts head…

Enough is enough.  Nationalise the banks.  Nationalise them now.  A midnight strike.  Put us and the economy out of our miseries.  And start the long road back, if not to…

My oh my. My assertion that Ireland is a low-waged economy and that public sector wage cuts will have little impact has generated a lot of comments, some of them…

Ever get that sinking feeling – like your tied down to the railway tracks and the train is coming around the bend?  And your rescuers – they're actually waving the…

The newspaper articles read like war reports – from the economic front-line on which we are all trapped  The new CSO figures on unemployment confirm this.  Already, leading economists are suggesting the…

Higher and higher – that's the way unemployment is going.  Strange this is not getting the attention it deserves.  While the media debates the fiscal meltdown, the 'will-they-or-won't they' cut…

Here's one, of many, New Year resolutions I will undertake:  in the future I will not be blase about the deteriorating fiscal situation.  I don't think I have been but…

Jeremiah was a bullfrog / He was a good friend of mine / I never understood a single word he said / But I helped him drink his wine /…

You know it's getting bad when one of the leading bank economists goes on the national airwaves and suggests that the nation pray.  On Morning Ireland we had a number…

What forced Niall Crowley out of his job in the Equality Authority?  Guess.  It was the same vindictiveness that saw the the scrapping of the Combat Poverty Agency as an independent…

Did anyone catch it?  Stephen Collins did but he didn't give us the maths.  When Minister Lenihan introduced the Finance Bill he made a small amendment in the new income levy,…

In Spain, which produces and consumes more olive oil than anywhere in the world, there is a small Andalucian area south of Cordoba – Baena – where the strictest controls…

David McWilliams has produced a table.  In fact, two tables (I've collapsed it into one).  Standing on these tables he spreads the gospel – in order to avoid bankruptcy and…

Prehead the oven to Gas Mark 5.  Put it in a roasting tray, season with salt and pepper and place on the middle rack.  Cook for 20 minutes a pound…

When looking at the economy we tend to look at the hard numbers – rising unemployment, percentage GDP decline, retail sales index, export volume.  Understandable.  But economies are made up…

As my people would say – what the Sam hell!  The Government has announced they are not going to participate in the EU Commission's economic stimulus programme.  They made that…

It would be hard to disagree with the following: 'In truth, Gilmore's speech was a master class; the best that he has ever given and, probably, one of the finest…

Good bloody grief.  ICTU and David McWilliams have teamed up, calling for the nationalisation of the banks.  Harvey Norman wants to slit his throat and wishes he never heard of…

This was originally written for Irish Left Review.  Crisis? It’s baby-crunching time. We no longer have the luxury of attacking others’ prescriptions – those issued by the Government, employers’ spokespersons…

Imagine you are the proverbial 'business owner', selling goods and services in 'the neigbourhood'. Your customer base is deteriorating fast – people losing their jobs, wage freezes and cut, shorter…