This article is the first of a two part examination of the Trade Related Intellectual Property System (TRIPS) and how it operates to the advantage of the economies in the Northern hemisphere (or “North”), principally the US and the EU, and to the disadvantage of those in the Southern hemisphere (or “South”). Part one below [...]

Sometimes numbers tell the best story. They may not tell us why - that comes afterwards, when we try to explain. But numbers are a good starting point. The OECD Economic Outlook has produced a set of numbers with which we can do some charting (I apologise but the Outlook is not accessible on-line -at [...]

Yesterday I talked to Michael Burke, an economist with 25 years experience working in the Financial Services sector in the UK, including a 5 years period as a senior economist in Citibank. Recently he entered the economic debate here by saying that the Government’s current strategy of cutting government spending could lead to an even [...]

Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better (London: Penguin, 2009). xvii + 331 pp.
This brilliant book demonstrates beyond any reasonable doubt that economic equality is good for society. In doing so, it exposes the complete falsity of the dominant view that massive inequalities are a necessary [...]

Originally published today on Progressive Economy.
Ever have one of those moments when you just know everyone else has got it wrong and you’ve got it right? When you say, I don’t care what the fashion is, showing off your brand of boxer shorts in public is plain daft? Well, have some sympathy then for [...]

He kicked off by saying if his officials knew he was here in my house, there’d be war. They thought I was a maverick. I took it as a compliment.
He got to the point quickly. He was sitting opposite me and he had a habit of looking around rather than catching my eye as if [...]

Professor Terry McDonough made an interesting point at the recent TASC conference when he pointed out, using the US experience during the Great Depression, that a statistical end to economic decline doesn’t mean an end to the recession. Let’s chart this and see what it might mean for the Irish economy. But first, let’s nail [...]

Yesterday I spoke to Professor Terrence McDonough on the phone, about his talk at the recent TASC conference entitled Towards a Progressive Economics. In a conversation that lasted about 30 minutes Professor McDonough described how orthodox economics is commonly (and inaccurately) understood and suggested that the left in all its forms should take a fresh [...]

Over the next few days there will be considerable analysis of the ESRI’s current quarterly review. I’d like to highlight just one projection - the rising annual deficit.
There are two things to remember: the one and only goal of Government fiscal strategy has been to contain the deficit. They have set no targets for job [...]