There are many issues to be sorted with the introduction of the Universal Health Insurance:  will it be a competitive private insurance market (a la Netherlands with its rapidly rising…

Ok, this follows on from yesterday's post but whenever I hear someone on the media claiming that Ireland is a high-tax economy, I'm going to @ the programme with this…

No matter what the evidence, regardless of what the data tells us, there are some who are determined to assert the opposite.  Take taxation – the evidence is absolutely clear: …

Unite has produced ‘Ireland Needs a Wage Increase’ – a comparative study of Irish and European employee compensation.  The bottom-line is that Ireland is a low-waged economy when compared with…

Eurostat has a particularly grim measurement – severe material deprivation.  They take nine deprivation indicators in which people cannot afford the following items: to pay their rent, mortgage or utility…

As if we didn’t know, we now know what the Government’s intentions are regarding tax cuts: ‘Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has pledged to widen income tax bands as soon…

You’d think that the monthly release of property prices was the ultimate barometer of not only the health of the housing market but the economy as a whole.  Are they…

It is often argued that the recession has been rough on all of us but that high income groups have had it the roughest.  European Commission Director István Székely came…

This is a guest post by Michael Burke.  Michael works as an economic consultant. He was previously senior international economist with Citibank in London. He blogs regularly at Socialist Economic…

When we think of profits, we think of successful companies that employ people to produce goods and services that other people want to buy; for instance, the proverbial ‘widget’ factory. …

We’ve had some pretty brutal debates where evidence took a back seat to unsubstantiated assertion, misleading projections and just plain fabrications:  public sector pay, social protection rates and fraud, taxation,…

At the Reform Alliance national chit-chat Ed Walsh popped up to talk about what the Health Services need.  You might remember Ed Walsh – former President of Limerick University and…

We need to keep wages and employers’ PRSI (the social wage) low to ensure we are competitive. That’s the line being spun everyday by employers’ organisations, Government Minister and a…

With the great and the good meeting in Davos, it is worthwhile taking a look at how the top 1 percent is doing, courtesy of a wonderful website – The…

I’m sure this will surprise no one but the highest income groups have seen their weekly earnings rise much faster than lower income groups. From the latest period we have…

2014 should become the year of the wage increase.  Lord knows, workers need one.  Falling incomes, rising prices, increased taxation, cuts in income supports and public services – all have…

If the Irish Times report is correct, the Government is on track to implement tax cuts for ‘middle income’ families.  The Taoiseach is certainly keen on it: ‘“The priority will…

It's that time to take a break.  Wishing all readers the best of the season.  And look forward to coming back in the new year with a good debate and…

We know what one of the big battles will be in 2014.  Ministers are making declarations.  Demands are being made.  Analysis (after a fashion) is being put forward.   Its tax…

The bailout for Ireland has been a resounding success.  The austerity programme that has been in place since 2008 has brought us back from the brink and piloted the economy…