On November 2, economists at the Department of Finance released Future Forty, an in-depth assessment of Ireland’s projected economic and fiscal outlook over the coming four decades, through 2065. Nobody knows whether an earlier economic slowdown is on the cards, but the Fiscal Council, the Central Bank and the Economic and Social Research Institute have all recommended short-term caution in budgetary policy, fearing that the risk of a macro correction has risen. They have been ignored in the expansionary budget for 2026. Gazing a full four decades into the future, the Department of Finance urges caution, too, but from a…