We were really pleased to be featured on TV3’s news with Brian Daly on how AIB rate changes would affect consumers, the clip above was aired on the 30th of March 2010
Exchequer returns for Ireland, October 2009
I plagiarised the chart below from Constantin Gurdgievs blog (which is brilliant btw) be sure to check it out.
What we can see is a widening of the deficit which is partly cyclical but also due to our spending habits versus our income, that is sometimes referred to as the ‘structural deficit‘ or a ‘public service deficit’, that shouldn’t be used as a stick against the public sector by default because it isn’t only arising from there, although public sector wage levels must be addressed because the costs in our public sector are heavily embedded and that presents a massive problem for making any adjustment given the percentage of spending that wages represent. Our property boom lead to a surplus which was rapidly spent, and ultimately it disguised a significant fiscal gap which we see emerging in the chart above.
The person who has given the most poignant thoughts on that matter lately in Ireland is (imo) Read More →
The Great Depression of 1920? Yep, you never heard of it….
This video is a fascinating take on monetary and fiscal policy which is contrary to the increasingly popular Keynesian solutions being put forward today. It advances the virtues of Austrian Economics, which is viewed by many as being a fringe economical school which lacks practical application. Admittedly many of the Austrian ideals would be totally unpalatable to general society, but it is important for the sake of balance to consider the views of the counter movement and not to discount it without due regard or rigour.
Thomas E. Woods has presented us with the idea that doing nothing in a financial crisis is what is required to allow an economy to heal itself, a view shared by many modern day commentators such as Jim Rogers. There is a middle ground somewhere between the hypothesis of Krugman and Mises but for now the debate rages on.
Boom Bust, house prices, banking, and the depression of 2010 by Fred Harrison (book review)
I have been quite public about my belief in property tax (caveat being we should have far less income tax/levies etc. perhaps a ‘flat tax’ would be best), and if there is one book that has really helped to shape that opinion quite succinctly it is Fred Harrison’s masterpiece on the topic, and the subject of this review ‘Boom Bust‘.
Fred Harrison saw the property crash in the UK of 1989/90 in 1980, and furthermore, he named a date, he also named a date of specifically 2010 (as a bottom, not as the ‘start’ of a crash) in the mid 90’s. How? It is due to his analysis which goes back to the 1500’s of property cycles, and while I am still sceptical about his ’18 year’ cycle, the one thing that fully convinced me was the basis and need for a more rational and working approach to property and taxation of same, or the ‘democratisation …
Yale economists discuss the financial crisis
Yale hosted a panel discussion with Yale Faculty on the National Financial Crisis, to discuss developments since the February 25, 2009 panel discussion. Panelists included John Geanakoplos (James Tobin Professor of Economics) and Robert Shiller (Arthur M. Okun Professor of Economics). The discussion was moderated by Yale University President Richard Levin (Frederick William Beinecke Professor of Economics).
This talk is a ‘must see’ in terms of viewing, Robert Schiller is not only a professor of economics but also the author of several popular books (the subprime solution and irrational exuberance) and the namesake to one part of the world known Case-Schiller index.
Nouriel Roubini and Nassim Taleb on CNBC
Two world renowned commentators give their views on the economy and market. The points they are making are that the same people are in charge, the system is not fundamentally changing, and that drastic measures are required in order to solve the financial crisis.
The main points made are that cash is king, the bottom has not fully been reached, and that we need to change the way the economy is driven, we need to get back to real physical capital rather than unproductive activities such as housing and finance.