Colm McCarthy: Empty trains, shuttered airports, and the folly of the “Just Do It” mantra

Central banks, spooked by the rise of cryptocurrencies, are scrambling to release digital currencies of their own. But central bank-issued digital money will have few of the benefits of cryptocurrencies, and some important drawbacks.

Why are the p/e multiples of technology companies so high? Where did the value factor disappear to? And why does the Irish economy grow so fast? All are explained by a change in the way companies invest their money.

Our private equity-backed world has created a modern two-class system: those who interact with the real world, and those who do not, with the latter being seen, strangely, as a privilege.

If Ireland’s most important objective in housing is to improve the availability and affordability of homes, the political discourse and policy changes of the past three weeks show that these aims are poised to be damaged further.

The status quo may have reemerged in the Premier League, but the big clubs would be wrong to think the uprising is over.

The GAA has always been more adaptable than its critics allow and in a post pandemic world, it will need to be.

Since Tuesday, we have heard from the European Commission on its corporate taxation plans for the next three years, Washington has laid down its cards for OECD-led talks on the issue, a visiting French minister and US multinationals have chimed in, and Paschal Donohoe spoke on the issue not once but twice. So, what have we learned?

Kevin O’Loughlin founded Nostra, an €18m managed IT services provider that employs 150 people. Here, he outlines some practical steps that will help shore up a company’s IT security, and the questions that all business leaders should be asking.

Housing policy in Ireland fetishises first time buyers, at the expense of everyone else. And this focus on first time buyers has led to skyrocketing rents, and may be about to cause a major public policy error.

Housing policy takes years to get right. This suite of policy changes took place in under a week, and while they might appease the middle classes, the moves will not solve the underlying problems. In fact, it could even turn an essentially ‘Dublin’ problem into a ‘national’ one.