Pat Leahy: The next economic shock could be just around the corner

This is something we should all consider as we head into the general election campaign

Fianna Fail Finance Spokesperson Michael McGrath TD speaking at the Pre Fianna Fail Budget Submission.

For all her recent popularity in this country, Queen Elizabeth II is hardly renowned as an economic commentator. But she was onto something when she famously questioned why nobody had foreseen the great economic crash of 2008-09. One sympathises with your view, ma’am.

Despite the store policymakers set by their forecasts, economists are famously bad at predicting what’s going to happen. There is an extensive and not unamusing literature chronicling the inability of ...