Posts tagged ‘Economy’
Economy: An overview
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012Exports, agriculture and inward investment are Ireland’s main economic successes but unemployment, emigration and low consumer demand are holding back growth. 2012 commenced on a positive note for Ireland, with news that the State is due to cut its deficit to 10.0 per cent, bettering the troika’s 10.6 per cent target. A 1.8 per cent fall in GDP since 2010, though, suggests that the overall economic situation is still fragile. Preliminary CSO statistics show a 9 per cent increase in exports of goods (unadjusted) between November 2010 and November 2011. During January-October...[full story]
Economy: The euro crisis
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012The future of the euro, and Ireland’s place in it, remains uncertain. Stephen Dineen looks at the country’s currency options. Depending on the outcome of the euro crisis, Ireland has four main currency options. It could stay in the economic and monetary union, quit the euro and establish an independent currency, or quit the euro and establish a currency linked to sterling or several currencies. Staying in the euro is seen by many economists as beneficial because it provides Ireland with currency stability, lower business costs and cheaper borrowing (through lower interest rates)....[full story]
Economy: Triple A shocks
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012The causes of the Great Recession risk being repeated, Patrick Love contends, as he reviews the downturn. Globalisation multiplies the effect of new shocks in a way never seen previously. Financial crises and recessions are nothing unusual. There were 195 stock market crashes and 84 depressions between 1860 and 2006. However, the 2007 crisis marks a turning point in that for the first time the entire world was affected. The trigger was the collapse of Lehmans, which called into question one of the unspoken assumptions of global finance: some banks are too big to fail. This assumption...[full story]
Economy: Looking ahead to 2012
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012Figures from the arts, politics, business and the media share their thoughts on the way ahead in 2012. Brendan Keenan Economics editor, Irish Independent It looks as if 2012 will be another year of stagnation for the Irish economy. The endless euro zone crisis has dashed hopes that the year might have seen the start of recovery from the deep, four-year recession. Most analysts expect the volume of goods and services produced this year to increase by only half a per cent or so. When the large profits earned by foreign companies are deducted, national income may fall again,...[full story]
Economy: EU-IMF Update
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012The Government met its Q4 2011 targets and banking restructuring continues. eolas looks at the latest developments. The ECB-EC-IMF troika was in Dublin from 10-19 January for its fifth review of the bailout programme’s implementation. It concluded that the programme is “on track” but with no room for complacency. The 2011 general government deficit target of 10.6 per cent was not only met, but surpassed at 10.0 per cent. The two pillar banks (AIB and Bank of Ireland) met their 2011 deleveraging targets, selling €15 billion worth of assets at “at a better price than anticipated,”...[full story]
Economy: Fiscal forecasts
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011In advance of Budget 2012, Meadhbh Monahan reports from the ESRI’s annual budget perspectives event, where economists debated the case for increasing the forthcoming adjustment and the need for certainty in the Government’s fiscal strategy. John McHale Chair of the Fiscal Advisory Council The fiscal stance, as outlined in the April 2011 stability programme update (SPU), is to reach a general government deficit to GDP ratio of below 3 per cent by 2015. It was judged as “broadly appropriate” when McHale and his four colleagues first began their work. The SPU estimated that budget...[full story]
Economy: Employment rights reformed
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011Employment Minister Richard Bruton has outlined his plan to streamline the employment rights and industrial relations structure. Stephen Dineen examines the proposed new system. Five employment rights agencies could be ‘streamlined’ into one entity to ensure employment law claims are simpler to make. At present there are five bodies that employees can approach for making claims of breach in employment rights or entitlement: the Labour Relations Commission, Rights Commissioners, the National Employment Rights Authority, the Equality Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal. Governed...[full story]
Economy: The Greek Crisis
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011A Greek exit from the euro could push up inflation and cause an Irish bank run, according to Karl Whelan. eolas considers the potential implications of its referendum. A country can change its currency in a weekend, UCD economics professor Karl Whelan has predicted, as the debate over Greece’s debt and referendum intensified. Whelan was speaking on The Late Debate on RTÉ Radio 1 after George Papandreou proposed a referendum on the EU’s new bail-out offer. Whelan added that capital could be controlled by halting electronic bank transfers for Saturday and Sunday and changing the denominations...[full story]
Economy: Comprehensive review of expenditure
Friday, August 19th, 2011September will see the Government complete its multi-annual comprehensive review of expenditure and make decisions on its capital spending programme. In its Programme for Government, published in March, the new Government committed to a comprehensive spending review, “to examine all areas of public spending, based on the Canadian model, and to develop multi-annual budget plans with a three-year time horizon.” The review is the first of its kind in Ireland. The Programme for Government stated the review would assess “effectiveness in achieving desired outcomes, and value for money,”...[full story]
