Stephen Kinsella: What Varadkar should do with his 'hidden fiscal space'
The Taoiseach suggested there was not just the €400-500 million of fiscal space we had expected, but ‘hidden fiscal space’. I am not sure what hidden fiscal space is, but if it exists, it needs to be spent on capital projects. Full stop.
Ireland is a mad place sometimes. The economy is the fastest growing in Europe, the fiscal headwinds look pretty good despite the oncoming challenge of Brexit, unemployment is dropping, households are spending more, personal disposable income is up. The balance sheets of households, firms, banks and even the government are improving. Large distributional issues remain, especially between those with houses and those without, and those with incomes and those without. The government is ...
