10 years on from the onset of the crisis we could take some time to take stock. The government is keen, as are many, to wipe it from memory – keep the recovery going. The recent undoubted recovery has softened memories for the most part. But if we forget the past we will sure as eggs forget the lessons of the past.
Ireland has an opportunity to position itself as a leader in an emerging technology, or perhaps a reemerging one. All it takes is political vision, a willingness to face down some entrenched local vested interests and a desire to make a change. This of course means it wont happen, but we can dream!
a All that glitters isnt gold… Continue reading
Donald Trump is wrong. These four words can generally apply to anything the Angry Orange man in the White House opines on but he is especially, egregiously and dangerously wrong on jobs. Continue reading
We need to talk about elephants. White, in the room, dancing It doesn’t matter , elephants are where it is at. However, rather than ascertaining how to manage, evade and if needed cull same, our government, which resembles an elephants graveyard of hope, is goading and ignoring.
The ASTI dispute throws into sharp relief a number of elements of how we disorganize our state. Lets leave aside the mad Leninist concept of equal pay for equal work, and the Trotskyite raving of equal pay for equal work. At heart the closure of schools will result from the abdication of the state over decades towards a key obligation – to educate.
Colm McCarthy writes , as usual, a very good column in the Sunday Independent. In essence it reminds us that post Brexit we have few allies in the EU. Whats missing is the conclusion as to what we can do, perhaps because not even Colm can figure that one out. Theres one thing we shouldn’t do however.
So brexit will, or possibly wont, happen. And if it happens we might or might not see a significant change in how the UK interacts with the remaining EU that is if there is a UK and it has not splintered. But what will it really mean for Ireland? And how should we interrogate the issues? A purely economic lens wont really work. We need to look beyond politics, beyond economics. Continue reading
This morning I delivered a talk to the Credit Union Compliance Center Annual Conference. Part of the talk was on the results of short survey which they had issued to the risk and compliance officers of their 160 members.
Governments usually, and often quite correctly, come in for severe stick for lack of joined up thinking. In that regard it is quite pleasant to see the initiative from the Department of Social Protection on moneylenders. Linking repayment to credit union loans to welfare payments allows low risk in lending and thus low interest rates. Would that similar joined up thinking pervaded the issue of student loans. Continue reading
Brian M. Lucey 