Articles: News

RTE’s most recent Prime Time looked at the cost of the economic crisis – and who should pay it. Myself and Tim Pat Coogan, among others, took part in an interesting discussion. More

Being ‘stuck’, getting punished for doing the right thing; watching those in charge throw good money after bad – and why: if my spending is your income, and your income is mine, the last thing we should be doing is undermining that system. More

Last week I spoke with Manuela Saragosa of the BBC World Service about the price of austerity. We discussed the human cost of the various cuts and burdens placed on economies – what has been inflicted and whether it has actually worked. And if it hasn’t, what was the point of the pain? More

I did  a short interview yesterday with Christopher McKevitt on mortgage arrears and how to help the majority of people and save our economy – have a listen. More

Anyone in New York this week and in need of a good night out? Come down to the Irish Arts Center on West 51st for political cabaret with me and Paddy Cullivan. It’ll be lots of fun. On Tuesday we’ll be joined by Steve Rattner, and Angela Fernandez is dropping in on Wednesday. More

This week the column comes to you from Las Vegas. It may not seem the ideal place to gauge the pulse of the American recovery but Nevada had one of the most violent boom/bust housing cycles in American history, so it constitutes a ground zero of sorts. The last time I was here in 2009, there were foreclosure tours of cut-price housing. There were buyers at discounted prices. More

Some nice words from Knowledge@Wharton on Kilkenomics. Here’s a taster: More

According to Stalin’s interpreter, in 1944, when the Allies were carving up the soon to be post-Nazi world, the Soviet leader responded to Churchill’s concern about the fate of Polish Catholics in a Soviet sphere. More

Hi all, More

This week, the column comes to you from Turin, home of Juventus, where nobody seemed the slightest bit surprised that the team – champions of Italy – could go to Glasgow and so ruthlessly dispatch Celtic. That was, for the locals at least, a given. More