Economics

Economists round on President over ‘lazy’ and ‘uninformed spiel’

Michael D Higgins claimed economists in Ireland were ‘stuck in an inexorable growth narrative’

President Michael D Higgins: said economists were ‘stuck in an inexorable growth narrative’

Economists have rounded on President Michael D Higgins and claimed comments he made about their profession are “lazy”, “outdated”, “uninformed” and “incomprehensible”.

In a speech at Áras an Uachtaráin on Friday, the President said economists were “stuck in an inexorable growth narrative” which was an “empty economics which has lost touch with everything meaningful”.

He said that he had called on third-level institutions to broaden their teaching of economics to the “emancipatory potential for a ...