Archive for October, 2009

McDonald’s pulled out of Iceland yesterday. This is an enormous moment because it is the first time the McDonald’s machine has admitted defeat in a modern, sophisticated country. A few years ago, this would have been unthinkable.

In his first public speech since being made governor of the Central Bank, Patrick Honahan – one of the finest economists we have ever produced – sounded almost apologetic about our overvalued currency. He made the point that if we still had the Irish punt, our exchange rate with sterling would be 1.18 and getting stronger by the day.

Wed 28th October 2009 8pm
The Button Factory, Temple Bar, Dublin 2
In association with Delta Index
NAMA: The Only Show in Town or Criminal Theft?
The Government has proposed a National Assets Management Agency as a solution to the banking crisis. Its supporters describe is as “the only show in town” but increasing numbers of critics are calling…

Part 3 of the three part series, Addicted To Money.
Peak Everything
The party is over. Having barely survived a complete collapse of the financial system, the global economy is tottering on the brink. we’ve reached the limits of what our desires demand of the planet and what it can deliver. We’re reaching Peak Everything and the…

As the 10.50 train from Galway to Dublin pulls out of a rainy Tullamore, it is difficult not to conclude that the country is in a garrulous and angry mood. My neighbour — a middle-aged woman with grown-up children — has just got off but she was livid, venting spleen since we left the fields of Athenry.

Do you remember back in school how the smart lads in the top class looked down their noses at the other lads in the streams below them? I have distinct memories of the fellas in the top stream at my school, many of whom went on to be doctors and lawyers – and who are now at the top of their professions, having a lofty view of their own abilities.

Part 2 of the three part series, Addicted To Money
Nowhere to Hide
In Episode 2, “Nowhere to Hide”, David takes a road trip through the economic badlands, revealing the inescapable global reach of crisis, from bankrupt Iceland to struggling Honduras. Now that the credit meltdown has peaked, it’s left debris spread throughout the real economy. What…

The other day, while travelling by train to an interesting conference organised by Network Ireland in Westport, I was struck by just how lush our country is. Field after field of well irrigated, arable land suggested that we are probably not touching close to our agricultural potential and that is despite the fact that agriculture is still our biggest indigenous industry.

Last Wednesday night at the Historical Society in Trinity College Dublin – the Hist, as it’s known – Professor Joe Stiglitz, winner of the Nobel Prize in economics and former chief economist of the World Bank, gave a stirring speech about the impact of globalisation on the poor.

Trailer for part 1 of the three part series, Addicted To Money
Who Killed the Economy?
In Episode 1 `Who Killed the Economy?’ we go on a forensic investigation to work out the root cause of the Global Financial Crisis. Using the analogy of ‘easy credit’ as a form of drug that we all became addicted to,…