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.
Jobs, jobs, jobs. But what kinds of jobs? Ireland is at, or near, the top of an economic cycle. C...
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.
