Ireland is finally talking about doing something meaningful with the €170bn sitting idle in short-term bank accounts, which is both welcome and long overdue. The real risk is that, if the mooted “Government Savings Scheme” becomes just another tax wrapper bolted onto a broken savings and investment system, we will have succeeded mainly in creating a new revenue stream for financial institutions – while leaving consumer behaviour largely unchanged. We have been here before. Ireland has form when it comes to well-intentioned savings initiatives with mixed long-term outcomes. The Special Savings Incentive Accounts (SSIAs) of the early 2000s were extraordinarily…

Want to continue reading?

Join today and get full access to The Currency and The Wall Street Journal – TWO premium memberships for the price of one.

Subscribe

Cancel at any time.

Are you already a member? .