Why national income tells us very little about our quality of lifeEurope and the US take very different views on the importance of earnings compared to time off workFri Nov 17 2023 - 06:00
Climate change: Adapting consumer behaviour will be no easy taskJohn FitzGerald: Without good alternatives and appropriate signals, people will not shift their energy use patternsFri Nov 10 2023 - 05:00
Meeting housing needs means redirecting our resources Ireland has devoted too much of our domestic resources to producing what foreigners want rather than what we most need at homeFri Nov 03 2023 - 05:00
We need to prepare for a world of more rain and floodsBuilding major flood defences take years, so investment should begin right awayFri Oct 27 2023 - 06:00
John FitzGerald: Ireland needs strong regulation, but we have too many regulatorsPlanning system needs to take into account national interest and can’t be a Nimby’s charterFri Oct 20 2023 - 06:00
Budgets err slightly on the side of expediency over prudenceWith full employment, we need to divert resources from elsewhere to build the housing the economy needs for further growthFri Oct 13 2023 - 05:00
Global trade means supporting losers, not protecting them at any costSeeking to protect jobs in firms that have failed to adapt to the changing world will have a significant cost for consumers and slow the green transitionFri Oct 06 2023 - 05:00
John FitzGerald: Raising the price of dirty fuels drives investment in greener technologiesCarbon taxes have a critical role to play in avoiding catastrophic climate change but the important thing is how we use that revenueFri Sept 29 2023 - 05:00
US multinationals do not just distort our GDPJohn FitzGerald: Problems arise because the US allows companies to move ownership of intellectual property to a foreign countryFri Sept 22 2023 - 05:00
John FitzGerald: There are win-wins for farmers in the climate change battleIrish agriculture can help slow global warming while giving farmers a good incomeFri Sept 15 2023 - 05:00
John FitzGerald: Young men take risks, but a lot less so than previouslyFatalities on our roads, despite a recent rise, have declined substantially for this cohortFri Sept 08 2023 - 05:00
The Irish planning system: Where a remote possibility of damage to wildlife trumps all other environmental considerationsEfforts to address critical policy concerns like the housing crisis and climate change are being frustrated by the processFri Sept 01 2023 - 05:00
Workers will have to be paid more to sustain public services John FitzGerald: Since 2010 wage rates have risen more slowly in the public sector than in the private sectorFri Aug 25 2023 - 06:00
John FitzGerald: The draft rail strategy is fun but most of it is fantasy When it comes to big infrastructural initiatives there needs to be a decent margin of benefit over cost to make a project worthwhileFri Aug 18 2023 - 05:00
Government needs to start preparing now for climate change impactExtreme weather events will likely become more frequent and Ireland has to be ready to handle themFri Jul 28 2023 - 05:00
We should save for the nation’s old age rather than splurge nowJohn FitzGerald: Our corporation tax bonanza is a bit like an oil find, bringing massive but temporary revenuesFri Jul 21 2023 - 06:00
Ireland cannot compete in a state-aid free-for-all If the EU wants to subsidise key industries, any such subsidy should come from the bloc, not national governmentsFri Jul 14 2023 - 05:00
IDA Ireland should slow down its stream of new projects Republic short of workers, which means hitting pause button on lower-priority projects in public or private sectorsFri Jul 07 2023 - 05:00
Unwise for Dublin to fill Northern Ireland funding gaps Move would relax the pressure on politicians in Northern Ireland to put their budgetary house in order and let London off the hookFri Jun 30 2023 - 05:00
We need to keep a lid on the economyJohn FitzGerald: There’s a real risk that giveaway budgets will do significant damage to the economyFri Jun 23 2023 - 05:30
John FitzGerald: How the census can help us to fight climate changeThe census shows the changing face of Ireland, and offers critical data for reducing our carbon emissionsFri Jun 16 2023 - 05:00
John FitzGerald: Ireland is finally taking global warming seriously but there’s too much talk, not enough actionRegulatory obstacles may stymie State ambition on carbon budgetsFri Jun 09 2023 - 05:00
Economics never claimed the markets are always right. That is a dismal mythGovernment intervention was always seen as essential, and few economists see the pursuit of growth as the only goalFri Jun 02 2023 - 05:00
Price controls didn’t work in the Soviet Union and won’t work hereBest solution to consumers’ pain is for the Government to act to protect those on low incomesFri May 26 2023 - 06:00
John FitzGerald: How to contain a bank run in the high-speed age of social mediaModern bank runs can escalate within minutes rather than weeks due to online social networks posing new challenges for central banksFri May 19 2023 - 05:00
Absence of executive exacerbates North’s budgetary problemsNorthern Secretary has blamed the £300m unplanned overspend last year on the absence of a government in StormontFri May 12 2023 - 05:00
John FitzGerald: Success of pandemic measures shows merit of discretion in EU fiscal rulesObsessive focus on avoiding indebtedness forces countries to slam on the breaks in hard times, making the damage far worse than necessaryFri May 05 2023 - 05:00
John FitzGerald: Raising the cost of flying may be the necessary thing to doLack of agreed international regulation, or taxes, means flying is likely to be the last battleground on fossil fuel useFri Apr 28 2023 - 05:00
Splurging the corporation tax windfall in exchange for votes would threaten the nation’s futureBy delaying the gratification from spending the bonanza today, the State will get much better value for moneyFri Apr 21 2023 - 05:00
John FitzGerald: State needs to stop cost of living supports for better off families A savings glut and low interest rates risk overheating the Irish economy and pushing house prices higherFri Apr 14 2023 - 05:00
Farming must focus on reducing emission of nitrogen Failure to address regulatory obstacles to climate-friendly forestry planting traps farmers in unviable and damaging beef cattle farmingFri Apr 07 2023 - 05:00
Membership of the EU has transformed IrelandJohn FitzGerald: State had been ne of northern Europe’s poorer countries, it is now one of the richestFri Mar 31 2023 - 05:00
John FitzGerald: Silicon Valley Bank had no excuse for being ‘all in’ on giltsEuropean banking system appears to be better regulated and prepared for downsides but there could still be hidden problems waiting to emergeFri Mar 24 2023 - 05:00
John FitzGerald: EU electricity market needs reform to end reliance on windfall profitsCurrent mix of support mechanisms for producers is unnecessarily costly for consumers and uncertain for renewables investorsFri Mar 17 2023 - 05:00
John FitzGerald: State needs to invest smarter to meet the cost of claimsThe €140m paid to lawyers by the State Claims Agency in 2021 represented approximately 15% of the profession’s income that yearFri Mar 10 2023 - 05:00
Rent control reduces supply and makes life even harder for new tenantsJohn FitzGerald: Increasing the supply of rented accommodation, including social housing, is the better way to goFri Mar 03 2023 - 05:00
People in cities have more cash than their country cousinsTaxes and welfare smooth out some of the starkest differences in incomes across various parts of the StateFri Feb 24 2023 - 05:00
Will the cost of living crisis come to an end?Government supports must focus on most vulnerable parts of society, not the wider populationFri Feb 17 2023 - 05:00
Nuclear power plants are simply too big to be viable in IrelandWe need to build more electricity generating capacity but as government noted 40 years ago scale makes nuclear power a poor fitFri Feb 10 2023 - 05:00
Could the economy be on track to overheat?Higher taxes could lie ahead as possible overheating loomsFri Feb 03 2023 - 05:00
John FitzGerald: Lack of consultation by London a key part of NI protocol rowUK government’s decision not to consult with devolved administrations on Brexit stirred mistrust and animosityFri Jan 27 2023 - 05:00
John FitzGerald: Encouraging a switch to EVs in rural areas is the fastest way to cut emissionsTransport sector is key for Ireland to hit emissions targetsFri Jan 20 2023 - 05:00
Congestion charges vital to get people out of cars and on to public transportRoad space is a scarce resource that can be used most efficiently by buses, so bus lanes are more valuable than cycle pathsFri Jan 13 2023 - 05:00
John FitzGerald: The lessons we need to learn from the pandemicOn the economic front, Government decision to provide increased support for households and businesses proved exceptionally successfulFri Jan 06 2023 - 05:00
State suddenly finds itself in a good position to fund more investmentThe big constraint will be producing the promised investment when the economy is close to full employmentFri Dec 23 2022 - 05:00
John FitzGerald: Supporters of a united Ireland are often unrealistic on cost of legacy debtOptimism bias seriously clouds the judgment of some supporters of unification who imagine that Britain would somehow pick up the tabFri Dec 16 2022 - 05:00
John FitzGerald: Constitutional protection for biodiversity could have damaging consequences We should allow for legislative judgment calls on how we balance biodiversity with the need for essentials such as renewable power and housingFri Dec 09 2022 - 05:00
John FitzGerald: Government data needs to be easily accessiblePress releases only tell us so much - the data that can drive Government decisions should be readily availableFri Dec 02 2022 - 05:00
Preparing to pay the price of the COP out The potential consequences of the global temperature rising by two degrees are devastating if we fail to plan ahead nowFri Nov 25 2022 - 05:00
Energy crisis: Keeping energy-guzzling operations alive should not be priorityEurope's biggest economy likely to see output fall over the coming yearFri Nov 18 2022 - 05:00
