The do’s and don’t of giving a reference (and what to look out for if you receive one)

Labour and the incoming Irish government will have to place a significant emphasis on US relations in the new year with both facing threats from a protectionist Trump regime.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has seen its influence downgraded in the interests of ‘delivery’ and the decline in the quality of the capital programme is already underway.    

Behind a veil of prudence, Government projections continue to forecast rapid growth in corporation tax revenue. For another week, they appear not to be wrong.

New York’s experience with rent controls in the interwar years was – compared to other rent control systems – less painful. Rents were kept in check until new supply came on stream. There is nothing at the moment, however, to suggest that Ireland is following the same route.

Recruiters get more calls from candidates after the holidays, and I expect the usual post-Christmas rush. Here are some tips on how to navigate the process.

The electorate might have returned the two main parties of government, but it is clear that “more of the same” will not suffice over the coming years.

Streaming services are giving viewers a new opportunity to enjoy films that flopped at the box office. Some of them lost tens of millions of dollars, others were in bad taste while more were targets of rushed judgements. They are now being hailed as flip flops.

The world has become a more uncertain place, and the new incumbent in the White House would do little to dampen the growing unease. But here are ten events – some domestic, some international – that would make Ireland, Europe and the world a better place this year.

We are in the midst of a political and economic regime shift, which entails larger fiscal deficits, higher long-end interest rates and a clear shift in trade patterns towards more local supply chains.

Over this holiday period, it is impossible not to reflect upon the legacy of our late colleague Tommie Gorman. He was one of a number of major public figures who died this year, many of whom we remembered in The Currency.