Banking Ian Guider: Interest rate hikes will be a big bonanza for banksThere’s plenty of pain on the way for mortgage holders, but it’s likely to be a different story for our friends at the big banks
Tech Ian Guider: Tech firms may need to adjust to the new austere realityBill Gurley, the Silicon Valley veteran, said that the days of soaring valuations are over, with a more modest era about to unfold
Economics Ian Guider: Debt and inflation are lurking as the ECB withdraws its safety netIreland’s national debt could become a problem again, just as the European Central Bank starts to bring an end to quantitative easing and its financial stimulus packages
Public Sector Ian Guider: Why the civil service could do with some outsidersIt simply cannot be the case that the only people capable of performing the civil service roles in question come from within its own ranks
Employment Ian Guider: Dangerous divide opens up between multinational staff and other workersThe widening fissure between domestic employers and multinationals represents a big threat to Ireland’s enterprise policy
Tax Ian Guider: Catch-all schemes won’t fix the cost of living crisisProposing wealth and windfall taxes is missing the point – a better solution is to draw up effective measures to help those who need the money most of all
Crypto Ian Guider: Troubled times take the shine off cryptoInflation, pandemic and war should be creating the ideal conditions for bitcoin and its ilk to thrive. Instead they’re behaving like any other risk assets
economics Ian Guider: Why we need to start talking about the impact interest rate hikes will have on squeezed households Money markets are pricing in three 0.25 per cent moves this year, and probably the same or more in 2023
Ian Guider: AGMs are now more of a day wasted than a day outAgms used to be an opportunity for retail shareholders to have their say and be treated to a nice lunch. Now, hardly anyone turns up. Is it time to make the virtual meeting the default option?
Ian Guider: McDonagh leaves a bigger bank, but who is she leaving it to?After five years at the helm, the departing chief executive is exiting a bank bolstered by its KBC and Davy deals, but it is not immediately obvious who will succeed her
Ian Guider: The state is staying silent as two banks prepare to shut up shopThe withdrawals of Ulster Bank and KBC Bank are close at hand, but the Department of Finance and the Central Bank are conspicuous by their silence on the seismic changes in the sector. Why?
Ian Guider: Public sector pay rises will only dig us deeper into inflation crisisBenchmarking social welfare rates to inflation would make more sense than an across-the-board percentage pay rise for all
Ian Guider: Sights could have been set so much higher for the Irish Glass Bottle site The location close to the city centre could have held a Manhattan-style high-rise quarter
Ian Guider: P&O’s self-inflicted damage could scupper attempt to navigate a low-cost course Drastic cost-cutting by Irish Ferries in 2005 was met by public outrage, but the company is now poised to clean up in the wake of its rival’s spectacular PR own goal
Ian Guider: Why the N in NFT stands for nothingIn a time of great change assailing the economy and the financial sector, non-fungible tokens are an unregulated mess representing huge danger to the ordinary investor
Ian Guider: Fallout on Aughinish mustn’t tempt us to ease off on sanctions against RussiaThe sanctions were always going to have an impact beyond Russia but all countries must stand firm for them to work
Ian Guider: Big three banks sitting pretty as they wait for new customers to come callingThe departure of KBC and Ulster will release a lucrative abundance of personal account and business customers for the remaining three banks to divvy up
Ian Guider: Sanctions on Russia mean we must be prepared to put our self-interest asideIt is estimated that more than €100bn of assets are held in brass-plaque entities registered in Ireland and backed by Russian companies, many linked to the Putin regime
Ian Guider: We can’t have it both ways on public services and axing the USCIf we truly want Scandinavian levels of living standards and infrastructure, we must be willing to pay for this through increased taxes
Ian Guider: Kicking the pensions can down the road won’t pay offThe short-term strategy of either avoiding or opposing changes to the pension age will leave citizens and the economy short of hundreds of billions of euro