Like the best political economists, Michael O’Sullivan is able to show examples of the transitions taking place across multiple fields — economics, international finance, politics, international relations
Ireland’s economy has a history of outperforming other European economies for a while, and then vastly underperforming them when the economy turns downward like a marble rolling ever-faster off a table
Mega-projects raise the question of where private decision-making, private funding and private risk-taking should be preferred, and where public decision-making and action-taking is necessary.
Stephen Kinsella on the convoluted history of the National Broadband Plan
The negative response to senior civil servant Robert Watt’s criticism of the massive cost of the rural broadband rollout is yet another example of this society’s dislike of straight talkers
Small open economies are the sentinel species of globalisation - and we may be the most globalised
The domestic economy’s demand for goods grew by 4.5% last year. The Irish economy is growing. It looks strong. So do the public finances. So far, so boring. But, as Tom Waits once sang, the large print giveth, and the small print taketh away.
Charities do good work, but given the sensitive work they do, and the funding they receive, as organisations they deserve our scrutiny
Ireland is by far the most successful country in the EU at integrating migrants, and it’s vital that debate on the issue is not allowed to descend into emotional soundbites.
The EU has shown extraordinary patience, and we’re lucky to be part of this club
Ireland is a bit odd in terms of the distribution of its population. Our urban hierarchy is odd not because Dublin is so big, but because our other cities are so small
The reality is that if international trade and dealings are not governed by some set of rules, then size is all that matters. A world like that is very dangerous for just under five million people living on an island on the western edge of Europe.
It is only in reading the 1921 Dáil Treaty debates that it becomes clear how similar Michael Collins’s position was to the one Theresa May is in today.
People need jobs, certainty and a settlement which allows them to prosper. But despite more than two years spent negotiating with the EU, a deal seems further away than ever
Our system is geographically unequal. Where you are born really matters. Our outcomes from our health system are measurably worse than in other countries, and our spending per person is as high as Denmark’s. Why is that?
Despite having a younger population than most high-income countries, we spend far more per person on health than the OECD average. And our health system is still a mess. We need to start looking hard at where exactly the money is going, or costs will just keep rising
What determines an economy’s prosperity is its productivity: how the workers and firms in the economy use their knowledge and skills to make things or deliver services people want
The second policy response to fast-paced changes in the nature of work and its attendant rise in earnings inequality is to set up a universal basic income programme. This is money everyone gets transferred into their bank account every month, regardless of their age or income level. Think of it as child benefit, but for everyone.