Personal taxes set at their current levels during the financial crisis are unfair – particularly when we examine what has been done with the resulting State revenues.
Something seems to have changed in the past ten days. If it brings more scrutiny to how successive governments have continued to unthinkingly throw taxpayers’ money at problems, it will be for the best.
The combination of factors that led to a joint spike in energy prices and general inflation four years ago is not repeated this time around – yet prices, including those of energy, are rising.
Western economies are much less dependent on oil prices than during the Iranian revolution of 1979. But as Trump heads to China, geopolitical turmoil could be far from abating.
As oil and gas markets react to escalating tensions, the key question for Ireland is whether higher energy prices will trigger another inflation shock – or remain contained.
The US Supreme Court ruling is a constitutional landmark, but it does little to settle the deeper shift toward protectionism. For Europe — and especially Ireland’s pharma-driven economy — the outlook is increasingly fragile.
Housing trends in Ireland compare more favourably with peer countries than one might believe, including for younger people – but this does not mean current policy is adequate.
Reliance on US multinationals, risky energy supply, and low defence spending are all symptoms of insufficient adptation to the new world order among Irish political leaders.
As the US and China dominate a "might-is-right" world, Europe’s influence is shrinking. For a small, open economy like Ireland, strategic complacency is no longer an option.
From Irish politics to trends in tax and trend and geopolitical shifts, this year has brought good and bad news to those looking for economic stability.
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