Articles
Archives
Article Archives
David has been running this website for over 18 years and there are plenty of articles covering some of the most turbulent times in the world economy.
Below is a year by year list of Davids’s articles.
ARCHIVES 2016
Nama, Kafka and the trial of our public sector
Make no mistake about it, the series of public sector strikes that we have experienced — and are about to see more of — are entirely linked to housing. The fact that middle ranking public sector workers can’t, or at least don’t feel that they can, afford to live in...
read moreThe State must become the Ryanair of house builders
The main reason the public-sector unions are on strike is the price of housing. Sort out housing and we begin to sort out lots of things that are problematic in the economy. Unless the State gets to grips with the fact that middle-ranking workers can't find a place to...
read moreWhy bargains in Newry this Christmas are about so much more than the recent fall in Sterling
It has become an article of faith in Official Ireland post Brexit that the dramatic fall in sterling has caused a serious problem for Irish competitiveness. The narrative spun is that the British vote has been disproportionately negative for Ireland because our...
read moreSend a message to the world — give the Central Bank to start-ups
What should we do with the iconic Central Bank building on Dame Street? Imagine if we did something creative. Rather than sell it off to be turned into a hotel (which is the plan), why not turn this fantastic site into a start-up hub, offering extremely low rents to...
read moreFinance Bill — We’re finally keeping it real
Are we witnessing the beginning of the end of yet another sorry saga in Irish economics and finance? Will the finance bill published Thursday, which slapped a right and proper 20% withholding tax on the profit of property funds operating in Ireland, signal a shock...
read moreARCHIVES 2015
Like him or not, O’Leary is walking on air in the smiles-high club
Last Friday week, there was a small crash on the M50. Try getting to the airport from most places in Dublin if there is a crash on the M50: the chances of you making it on time are slim to non-existent. We scrambled, arguing, angry and stressed into Terminal 1, a...
read moreWhy we need rent controls
It appears to be an article of faith amongst the mainstream that rent controls are a “bad thing”. The last time we had such conformity or groupthink, we had the soft landing brigade reassure the country that “everything would be grand” and their models said so. Well...
read moreGreat expectations – the driving force behind latest property crisis
Is it possible that we have got ourselves into the position where we have a housing crisis again, where those at the bottom and middle can't find a place to live and those moving from the middle upwards are locked into, yet again, bidding wars for homes where the...
read moreDon’t fix your mortgage rate….just yet
Even at these historically low rates, don’t fix your mortgage. Interest rates are going lower. Renegotiate now if you can! Don’t take my word for it: listen to Mario Draghi. The chief bottle washer of the ECB is worried, so worried in fact that he’s ready to print...
read moreCanada is the north American friend of Ireland we sometimes overlook
Perhaps the most haunting piece of sculpture in Ireland is the group of gaunt, skeletal famine figures on Dublin's docklands. They are simply walking, to somewhere, to a better place. Sculptor Rowan Gillespie has captured these desperate images of tortured souls,...
read moreARCHIVES 2014
We can learn from our teaching past and grab a share of a market worth trillions
At Kilkenomics last year, one eminent economist from India was asked about what type of industries and activities he thought Ireland might foster to get ahead in the future. What industry could we host in Ireland that would take advantage of the rapid changes in the...
read moreStaying ahead of the economic curve
You know the sporting expression “he reads the game well”? It is usually applied to great players who know where the ball is going. It was often applied to the two men whose books are just out, Keano and Drico. It is the ultimate compliment for any player because it...
read moreIn an unequal world, poorer countries need more than entrepreneurial spirit
In a world of increasing inequality - not only within countries but also between countries - the age-old question remains to be solved: why are some countries poor and others rich? This is particularly relevant for poor countries in 2014. A huge amount of foreign...
read moreProlonging life will only make death the least of our worries in an ageing society
My father passed away five years ago at the decent age of 79. With the passing of time, it becomes easier for me to consider the last years of his life. Like many people, he was healthy up to a number of years before he died, but overnight his quality of life...
read moreThe indomitable spirit is taking over
The traffic on Paseo de la Castellana in the centre of Madrid is backed up. This is another sign, according to Spanish commentators, that things are looking up. Just as parts of Dublin are doing well while the rest of the economy is still shuddering from the...
read moreARCHIVES 2013
The view from Germany
If you want to understand the economic power of Germany, just drive here. You can feel the vibrations of this great superpower on the inside lane of the A1 autobahn from Dusseldorf to Cologne. Unlike motorways in other countries, which can be empty or when full are...
read moreWe just can’t afford to lose the vital services of credit unions
'Teenage Kicks' wouldn't have been recorded without the Credit Union. It's hard to imagine Derry without the Undertones. Today Derry is a very different place to the Derry of the mid-1970s when the band formed but, for this visitor, Derry and The Undertones still go...
read moreDraghi rolls the dice – and boosts the value of your house
Mario Draghi has ensured that the mini-boom in Dublin's trophy houses will continue for a while. This is what happens when interest rates are cut to almost zero - the people with savings think there is little point saving any more, so they don't bother any more. They...
read moreLessons from sporting legends can keep businesses on the ball
The hotel ballroom is jammed. And this isn't any old ballroom but the ballroom of the Al Faisalya Hotel in Riyadh – the most posh hotel in a city of posh hotels. I am writing this from the foyer of the hotel, having just finished a speech to Arab investors on the...
read moreWe’re all just too human
Can you imagine being so severely burned that you are not able to speak to your nurses? You are a mute mummy, in horrible pain, wrapped in bandages with horrific burns all over your teenage body. When it comes to changing your bandages, the compassionate nurses...
read moreARCHIVES 2012
The view from Germany
If you want to understand the economic power of Germany, just drive here. You can feel the vibrations of this great superpower on the inside lane of the A1 autobahn from Dusseldorf to Cologne. Unlike motorways in other countries, which can be empty or when full are...
read moreWe just can’t afford to lose the vital services of credit unions
'Teenage Kicks' wouldn't have been recorded without the Credit Union. It's hard to imagine Derry without the Undertones. Today Derry is a very different place to the Derry of the mid-1970s when the band formed but, for this visitor, Derry and The Undertones still go...
read moreDraghi rolls the dice – and boosts the value of your house
Mario Draghi has ensured that the mini-boom in Dublin's trophy houses will continue for a while. This is what happens when interest rates are cut to almost zero - the people with savings think there is little point saving any more, so they don't bother any more. They...
read moreLessons from sporting legends can keep businesses on the ball
The hotel ballroom is jammed. And this isn't any old ballroom but the ballroom of the Al Faisalya Hotel in Riyadh – the most posh hotel in a city of posh hotels. I am writing this from the foyer of the hotel, having just finished a speech to Arab investors on the...
read moreWe’re all just too human
Can you imagine being so severely burned that you are not able to speak to your nurses? You are a mute mummy, in horrible pain, wrapped in bandages with horrific burns all over your teenage body. When it comes to changing your bandages, the compassionate nurses...
read moreARCHIVES 2011
The power of belonging: some thoughts on The Gathering
Isn’t it curious how quickly the world changes? A few years ago, I argued that after a coming dreadful economic crash, Ireland would be well advised to look to its diaspora in a totally different way and if Ireland could see itself as the recharging battery for the...
read moreInterview with Ray D’Arcy, Today FM
Had a great chat with Ray about The Good Room and how debt is holding a generation of Irish people back. Hope you enjoy: David McWilliams - The Ray D'Arcy...
read moreGoodbye to all that: just what would we do if UK left EU?
What would we do if, or possibly when, Britain leaves the EU? In recent months the chances of Britain actually doing so have risen sharply. Diplomatically, it would still be a big move for Whitehall, but with 56% of British people wanting to leave the EU outright, the...
read moreBoom and bust cycle is the same Down Under
I am sitting in a small cafe watching an ancient, wizened former Anzac soldier placing a flower in remembrance of his fallen comrades at the cenotaph in Martin Place in central Sydney. The man must be 90 at least, but he is standing erect, two bright medals on his...
read moreAustralia to reap rich harvest as new bread basket of Asia
THEY say Australia is the lucky country, and when you arrive here there is a sense that the ball bounces kindly down under. The country is blessed with almost unlimited resources, it is well run, the climate is lovely and more than anything else, as we move through...
read moreARCHIVES 2010
Have we learnt nothing?
Less than 20 years ago, the Irish currency was devalued amid apocalyptic warnings. Here we are again, heeding the same warnings, while the Irish people face years of austerity Many years ago, while working in the Central Bank during the 1993 currency crisis, I...
read moreGovernment must cut deal that gives the people hope
In the back of The Tavern on Castle Street in Carlow last Saturday night the lads, under the watchful eye of proprietor Sean Furey, were downing large bottles of MacArdles. Apart from a recent local incident involving the slaps given out to a young fella from Eire Og,...
read moreThe Real Story
Fed up with the spin coming out of the Rehn-fest yesterday? Here is what is really happening today. Irish yields for our 2015 government paper now offered at 10% (not 8+%), no bids. AIB senior bonds 2016 maturity now 13% offered, no bids. This after paying E55 billion...
read moreMeeting up at Kilkenomics
Hi, fancy meeting up for a jar at Kilkinomics if you are going? I'd love to put a face to your name which I recognise from the website over the past few years. It seems like we've been through quite a bit together at this stage!! How's about 8.30pm Saturday night...
read moreForgive the ‘legacy debts’ and save the economy
Let’s say you own a company. It’s a retail company which you set up in 1999. It traded well in the boom, but to grow quickly, you took on debts commensurate with your turnover. Every time that you wanted to increase turnover, you had to rent a new outlet and invest....
read moreARCHIVES 2009
Worst-case scenario looms
Which one of the two big banks will be nationalised first? This sounds fanciful, but events in the last few days suggest that the perception of the Irish banks has changed profoundly – for the worse – and nationalisation is on the cards. This means we now face the possibility that we will have the guarantee, Nama and the nationalisation of one of the big two banks all at once.
read moreWe need creative ideas to pay for ageing population
On Monday afternoon, I came across an old lady sobbing as she scribbled a few loving notes onto a small wooden cross. Seeing that I noticed her, she wiped the tears and tried to pull herself together in true Scottish fashion, quite prim, but stern. She brushed down her pleated tartan skirt and tucked her scarf in around her collar to keep out the vicious north wind, which howled through the Scott Monument at the Garden of Remembrance in the centre of Edinburgh.
read moreThe great deception must end
Over the past few days, we have been exposed to the thinking of the Department of Finance. It is quite a scary world, but one worth delving into. This crisis has exposed – no matter who is the sitting Minister for Finance – the strange and convoluted logic of the mandarins, the permanent government, who run the country. In truth, any sitting minister has only a four-year lease on power; the ‘mandarins of Merrion Street’ own the freehold.
read moreRich get richer as rest of us pay for their mistakes
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.
read moreBanks leave SMEs high and dry
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.
read moreARCHIVES 2008
Banking ‘Know Nothings’ are keeping their heads in the sand
Considering they had neither the financial nous to foresee the global downturn, nor the courage to release accurate figures on the state of their institutions, how can the inept leaders of our banks now expect our trust?
read moreWe need our own Obama to be an agent for change
Yesterday I spoke to a friend -- let's call him Mike -- a hard working, non-greedy, frugal individual. This is not the sort of bloke who went out and splurged in the boom. He has a house, a car and, up until recently, a steady job. He lives for his children, his...
read moreIrish banks must tell the truth if they are to regain our trust
Banks are paying for the abuse of belief and trust with the loss of credibility in the fiduciary system.
read moreBrains to the left as we seek economic salvation
What makes a good leader in a crisis? In difficult times, what are the personal and intellectual characteristics that elevate the mere mortal to the position of a giant? When facing disaster, what is it in human nature that inflates some people and gives them the ability to take the right decisions when everyone else is losing the head?
read moreWhen opportunity knocks
The current market instability could create lucrative chances for those willing to take a risk.
Because of the panic that has gripped the markets, the next few months will probably be the most profitable opportunity to make money in this generation. But you’d hardly think so by listening to the mainstream commentary in Ireland.
read moreARCHIVES 2007
Beacon sheds light on our economy’s future
Walking around the back of the Hook lighthouse, the oldest in the country, where the Atlantic waves crash against the dark grey, muddy limestone, it’s not hard to see why this has been a crucial landmark for mariners. The tower at Hook was first constructed in 1247 and has guided ships into the harbour at Waterford for centuries.
read moreTradition, nostalgia and lineage are the way forward
Using our strong points as Irish people to sell the country abroad need not be an embarrassing case of financial shillelaghism.
read morePolish election system for ex-pats gets my vote
Last Sunday afternoon, a white van advertising a painting and decorating firm called the ‘Emerald and the Eagle’ pulled up in Ailesbury Road.
read moreLeviathan Returns with Naomi Klein, November 2nd
Leviathan: Political Cabaret Relaunch Special Friday November 2nd 2007, 8pm CrawDaddy, Harcourt Street, Dublin 2 Following a very successful outing at this summer's Electric Picnic festival, Dublin's leading forum for intelligent discussion, debate and satire returns...
read moreCrashing property market begins to reveal its casualties
Given that house prices are now falling across the board, it means that every valuation made last year was wrong.
read moreARCHIVES 2006
A society with too much money and few values
What would you do if it was your daughter? How would you feel if your little girl was attacked so violently by that coward, to the sickening chorus of cheers from other teenage girls?
read moreWhy is it an article of faith to be against Nuclear power?
The world – and that means Ireland too – is at a once-in-a-century crossroads. We are moving away from carbon based fuels to nuclear power. This century will be nuclear and we had better get used to it. While the language and prejudices of the 20th century still (understandably) dominate the nuclear debate, the realities of the 21st century point unambiguously to a nuclear future. Nuclear power does not mean nuclear weapons and this distinction will become increasingly apparent in the years ahead and the world is already going nuclear. Led by France and Asia, in twenty or thirty years’ time, nuclear power will be the norm. Ireland cannot opt out or shirk responsibility indefinitely.
read moreUruguay or Switzerland?
For years in Ireland, political and economic debate has focussed on relocating industry and financial opportunities from Dublin to the regions. The rationale being that people and money accumulate in the city at the expense of rural Ireland and so, it is incumbent on the elected representatives from rural Ireland to make sure some of the goodies were divvied up more equally. Dublin has been portrayed, unfairly, as a long shadow which blights and darkens the countryside. In fact, the opposite is the case. Dublin and big cities in all countries are the dynamos of the national economy. Without the heat generated from cities, there would be no such thing as a national economy.
read moreForeign workers needed for economy to succeed
Sitting in the only kosher cafe in Munich, it is hard not to feel that this city is where it all started.
read moreWhy the old and the sick are dying to get out of here . . .
What do Bray and the health service have in common? Not a lot you might say at first glance. One is an old tourist town – a seaside resort in the classic mode – which lost its main business over the years as the tourist market turned to Benidorm.
read moreARCHIVES 2005
We need to go nuclear
Mankind on a collision course
During the 18th century when Louisiana and Mississippi were home to French-speaking Arcadians or Cajuns, their black slaves also spoke French.
Many of the slaves worked on the New Orleans dock, which at the time was the commercial centre of the cotton industry. When a ship docked safely, the stevedores shouted ‘au quai’� to indicate that all was fine. Over time, this expression mutated into common parlance and eventually became along with Marlboro, Levis and Disney part of the lexicon of America.
read moreEnglish for our pockets, but Irish for our hearts
This time of year reminds me of the trauma of first love. The last weekend in August signalled the final days of Irish college, with tears, hugs and promises to write. I have vivid memories of packed trains pulling out of stations full of bawling, hysterical teenagers shrieking as if they were about to be fed to the Khmer Rouge.
read moreA new brand of populism surfaces in Germany
Dublin in the summer of 1905 felt like a very British city. Yes, you were in Ireland, but British rule in Ireland, and particularly Dublin, would have felt very secure.
read moreSaudis face troubled future
Armenians were the first Christians. In the third century the country officially declared itself Christian. Despite a deep and violent schism between Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Catholic) Christianity in the 11th century,many of our present-day religious rituals and holy days are Armenian in origin.
read moreARCHIVES 2004
Charlie the Unready knew he couldn’t fight the tides
In 989 AD, Ethelred the Unready, the Anglo-Saxon King of England, introduced a deeply unpopular tax called Dangeld (`Danish gold’).
read moreFAI destroyed Irish football brand by ignoring market
This weekend, close to 300,000 people will pay to see GAA matches. What’s more, Mayo’s football manager stated this week – with no hint of irony – that Gaelic games were sexy.
read moreSoundtracking the pulse of young Ireland’s economy
Louise is running around the office like a demented junkie. “Any tickets? Can you pull any strings?
read moreCheck a nation’s football to find its economic pulse
Portugal versus Greece was hardly the bookies’ anticipated pairing for the final of Euro 2004. You would have got generous odds on it
read moreRobopaddy and the new Africa
The picture on the front of Monday’s Cape Times, the biggest selling newspaper in Cape Town, said it all.
read moreARCHIVES 2003
Europe shows us the right way
Pierre and Claudine have just come back from their annual four-week sojourn in the south of France, refreshed, tanned and ready for their 35-hour week at Airbus.
read moreImmigrants will overcome with entrepreneurial flair
How long will it be before Ireland’s rich-list contains names such as Abramovich or Chang?
read moreWhen Mao was asked in the 1950s what were the lessons of the French Revolution
The US is sinking into the red so fast, that at current rates of borrowing, by the year 2006 their total debt will amount to 45% of their GDP. With figures like these, are predictions of its economic recovery being voiced prematurely?
read moreKitchens have become extraordinary things
Kitchens have become extraordinary things. A kitchen obsession is gripping the land and this is very evident in the middle shelves of any good newsagents.
read moreThere is an old saying amongst fighter pilots
There is an old saying amongst fighter pilots which is that you only take flak when you are close to the target
read moreARCHIVES 2002
The rain teemed down in Ungobungoland as the summer monsoon dragged on
The locals claimed they hadn’t seen the like for years and with craters replacing potholes on the main thoroughfares into the capital, it was clear that the rickety infrastructure was suffering a bout of rickets.
read moreLet’s borrow some money
Oversized wheelbarrows of salt, rather than the usual pinch, were needed when we heard the former cheerleaders of the stock market boom turn into Jeremiahs this week
read moreHealthcare costs soar now we don’t die the old fashioned way
The hero, played by Michael York, wanting to survive longer than the average Stepford wife or husband who zombied around blissfully unblemished, tried to escape beyond the city’s wall to a mythical place called Sanctuary, where, it was rumoured “old peopl
read moreEnlargement to benefit Ireland
IIn 1502, the year Columbus made his final trip to America, the map of Europe from Portugal to Moscow contained at least 30 sovereign states
read more‘What do you want? Get out! This is private property !
‘What do you want? Get out! This is private property … I’ll call the police right away,” the teenager cried
read moreARCHIVES 2001
Did the earth move for you?
The earth’s rigid outer shell, the lithosphere, is broken up into an extraordinary mosaic of oceanic and continental plates
read moreWhy inflated golf club fees point way to economic bust
There is something extraordinarily morbid about golf club politics and the rather unsavoury process of becoming a member
read moreCelebrity sells as voters yawn
On his lecture tours, what do you think Bill Clinton talks about in countries that do not have ethnic divisions? In Northern Ireland, Bosnia and the Basque region, issues of identity, nationality and borders make a statesman’s job pretty easy.
read moreSnared in a liquidity trap recession
Compaq Presario 251: 750Mhz Duron Processor, 64Mb RAM, 8Mb Nvidia Vanta Graphics card, 20Gb Hard Drive — €999.99
Like the one advertised above, the computer you have in your office or at home has more capacity than most of us will ever need in a lifetime.
read moreHeresy to question our stake in EMU
Over time our membership of EMU will lead to less stability, security and more variations in inflation
‘We are in the euro area for the long haul because we realise that they can offer us a kind of security and stability and a low inflation environment that, for us in the long run, is a very good package. You must take the rough with the smooth.’
read moreARCHIVES 2000
Unstable Israel falters in its search for peace
A senior Israeli political adviser once said to me that the only thing that mattered in politics was the ‘three-day rule’. Because the country is so volatile and the media so voluble, he contended that if a government could brazen out a particular crisis for three days, some other crisis would emerge to knock it out of the headlines and the government could live to fight another day. This he suggested is how Israeli governments work and survive.
read moreThe Potemkin approach to dealing with inflation
In the summer of 1787, determined to show foreign ambassadors the might of Russian power in the newly subjugated Ukraine, Catherine the Great organised a boat trip down the Dneiper past modern-day Kiev.
read morePolicies can’t guarantee success for any country
They’re very like us. They speak English, are, by and large, well educated and mainly of Celtic descent. Anyone who has ever worked in London as a student will know that they live like us too. Up to five people in a two-bed flat, working two shifts, carousing heavily and ultimately blowing most of the cash before they get home.
read moreTechnological know-how keeps the wealth to itself
On November 16, 1532 at Cajamarca, high in the Peruvian Andes a small band of Spanish gougers, led by a violent but ambitious drunk, Fransciso Pizarro, captured and subsequently killed the supreme Sun God Atahuallpa.
read moreHousing proposals should focus on credit availability
Credit cutting would reduce house price rises
In the 10th century, Ethelred the Unready, King of England faced a crisis. Danish long ships threatened rape and pillage all along the east coast of England. Sensing that his armies would be routed, Ethelred conjured up a scheme: instead of facing the enemy head on, he would persuade the tide not to come in, thereby stopping the invaders before they even set foot on land.
read more