Articles

This Government will not contemplate selling property just in case it would bankrupt the banks. The State’s argument is that the market is depressed so if we were to sell the land, we would not get a fair price for it.
So we will postpone the problem: we get NAMA — a financial skip into which…

Should governments cut spending rapidly this year and next if the economy is still on its knees?
This debate is raging, not just in Ireland, but around the world. Broadly speaking, the EU and the European Central Bank (ECB) want to cut back government spending quickly, while the Americans are more cautious, wishing to make sure…

Why are interest rates for Irish debt rising? Because the risk of a blowout here is rising — it really is that simple
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 Dnieper, past modern-day Kiev.
Her…

In the preface to The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, John Maynard Keynes writes: ‘‘The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones, which ramify, for those brought up as most of us have been, into every corner of our minds.”
This is the problem in every crisis.
The…

IF Seanie Fitz is bust, well then so too is much of Ireland’s professional class. Because they were all at the same game — buying into syndicates, borrowing against their incomes and hoping to make fortunes.
But now that history is being rewritten, FitzPatrick suddenly is painted as a man who acted alone. This is ludicrous….

Last Tuesday morning, I drove off the Stena ‘Hollandia’ in the Hook of Holland en route to Germany and on to Croatia.
On either side of the road, houses were confidently decked out with sparkling orange flags as the Dutch nation prepared for the semi-finals that night.
They had every reason to be confident. By the time…

In 989 AD, Ethelred the Unready, the Anglo-Saxon king of England, introduced a deeply unpopular tax called Dangeld (Danish gold).
These were coins that Ethelred minted from the tax and they were referred to as Dangeld or ‘Danish money’ because of the powers the king ascribed to these coins.
Having minted the new coins, Ethelred then waded…

The ‘Financial Times’ might not be the most obvious place to go to for football commentary, but in Simon Kuper, the financial paper of record has one of the most engaging football correspondents in the business.
His article on the demise of England’s soccer team got me thinking about the economy. On Monday morning, Kuper made…

You gotta love Maradona’s new look – and his team are playing like angels.
What more could you ask for?
I’d love to be a fly on the dressing room wall for his team talks.
Let’s hope the Argentinians go all the way, because they are a joy to watch.
Seeing the Argentinians play football got me thinking of…

I was thinking of Druids the other night on the summer solstice — the longest day of the year. The weather was wonderful and the last light of the day was gorgeous. In ancient times, people used to celebrate the solstice by lighting bonfires on hills — generally have a bit of a night out,…