RECENT ARTICLES
David writes a weekly column for The Irish Times, and he also regularly contributes to a variety of other publications including The Financial Times and Woodford Investment Management.
The ‘Merc index’ shows the Irish property market madness
Few songs capture the power of branding, commercial manipulation and consumer yearning like Janis Joplin’s Mercedes Benz.
With her opening lines “Oh Lord won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz”, Joplin sums up the “arms race” nature of modern consumerism whereby one purchase, in this case her friends buying Porsches, has to be cancelled out by her getting a Mercedes-Benz.
read moreWhy Brexit might not be as bad as feared
At this time of the year, newspapers are packed with predictions about what is likely to happen to the economy in the next 12 months. Underpinning all these views, whether negative or positive, is the pretence that the economic cycle in some way neatly follows the Roman calendar, as if the economic cycle begins on January 1st and ends at the stroke of midnight on December 31st.
Of course this is not how the economic world works. The economic cycle is impervious to our calendar cycle. Possibly because our human need for order, control and rhythm is so great, we feel compelled to align the economic cycle with the 12-month calendar cycle. In reality, the economy is a much more unregimented creature. The peak to trough of the economic cycle can last years. For example, the US is now in its 10th year of an economic upswing. Similarly, the Irish crash didn’t start on January 1st of any year, and end the following December. It kicked off abruptly and the subsequent recovery occurred slowly, bit by bit, over a number of calendar years.
read moreBROADCASTING
TEACHING
DOCUMENTARIES
PUNK ECONOMICS
FESTIVALS
As well as participating in many festivals around the world David runs two festivals in Ireland. The Dalkey Book Festival, Ireland’s fastest growing literary festival, every June www.dalkeybookfestival.org and Kilkenomics every November, which is the world’s only Economics and Comedy Festival www.kilkenomics.com.
BOOKS
ABOUT DAVID
He has devoted his entire professional life to the objective of making economics as widely available and easily understandable on as many platforms and to as many people as possible –and is having a laugh doing it.
As a result, he co-founded the world’s only economics and stand-up comedy festival Kilkenomics – described by the FT as “simply, the best economics conference in the world”. He also founded Ireland’s leading literary and ideas shindig, the Dalkey Book Festival. In the money world, David advises Neil Woodford of the Woodford Funds with £16 billion under management. The WEF at Davos debased their currency profoundly by making him a Young Global Leader a few years back!
As well as writing a weekly economics column in the Irish Times, he is active on social media and was named Ireland’s “most influential Twitter user” in 2016…
ECONOMICS Without BOUNDARIES
This course takes a completely novel approach – one you will not see anywhere else – that makes your educational experience more like watching a lively documentary than sitting in a dry classroom. We really believe that, when it comes to understanding our world through economics, what is important is rarely complicated and what’s complicated is rarely important.
SPEAKING
National Bank of Abu Dhabi
National Bank of Abu Dhabi
Invesco Perpetual
David’s presentation was perfectly pitched and brought exactly what we had hoped…delivered with wit and intelligence in an engaging and entertaining style.
Invesco Perpetual
Bank Muscat
David’s speech was fantastic and very well received by the audience. Many thanks to you and your team for assisting us in organising this wonderful conference.
Bank Muscat
W&R Barnett Ltd
W&R Barnett Ltd
DALKEY BOOK FESTIVAL
View the programme of events and book your tickets HERE
RTE – Ray Darcy SHow
Recently I was on RTE’s Ray Darcy Show to discuss the Irish property market among other things.
Have a look here!