On Monday evening I was in Tesco in Ballybrack. Like every other supermarket in Ireland on a Monday evening it is full of women and the odd few men sent out to get things that the family have run out of like milk, bread and “stuff for the packed lunches”. The shoppers, overwhelmingly women, stopped in the aisles, priced stuff, weighed up their options and chose. This is how the economy works. Millions of everyday decisions taken by millions of people every day make up what is the economy.
The economy is the amalgamation of our small decisions.
Earlier that day, I was at a brilliant (but for a middle-aged, white male economics commentator, rather disconcerting) ‘Women On Air‘ conference at Dublin Castle, organised by Caroline Erskine. It was enormously important because it dealt with why there are still relatively few women on air and in the print not just here in Ireland, but all over the western world.
The media, and broadcasting in general, is more friendly to women than most professions and yet here too, in this crucial forum where opinions can be moulded, changed and formed, the voice of half the population is heard but not at full volume. In contrast, men’s voices are amplified far in excess of 49pc of the population. We all know that whoever tells the story, frames it, dictates the parameters and determines, if not the conclusion, the range of conclusions.
Among the many interesting speakers was the American journalist Katie Orenstein who put up a slide showing that on certain subjects, the so-called ‘pink topics’, women do write more than men. These are the four Fs – food, furniture, fashion and family. But on ever other topic, men outnumber women. If you take as your starting point that we all write about what we know, the inference must be that women have more experience and expertise in these areas.
The charts shows this bias in the US for women writing about the four Fs. The most depressing revelation is that in the US, only 11pc of economics articles in mainstream media are written by women. The inference must be that women don’t have expertise in the hard world of economics.
Is this true? In fact, the opposite is true. Irish women are more important to the Irish economy and job creation than Irish men. Indeed, most of the growth rate of the Irish economy over the past three decades is down to Irish women.
Who creates jobs? The accepted narrative is that entrepreneurs create jobs. This implies that the wealthy people on boards of firms are job creators and therefore should be lauded. This is not the case.
The consumers who buy products create jobs. The best product in the world if it is not bought, won’t sustain a single job. Jobs are created after stuff is bought, not before.
Who are the main consumers in Ireland? Why, Irish women of course. Women have traditionally done most of the household shopping. Surveys suggest that women make perhaps 80pc of consumers’ buying decisions. Of course, some men might retort that these Irish women are doing this with Irish men’s money.
Again this is not true and this is where the extraordinary contribution of Irish women to the economic growth rate and job creation becomes apparent – as too does the fact that Irish men are not only falling behind, but not pulling our weight in terms of GDP.
GDP – which is only the aggregation of all the little stuff that goes on in the economy – comes from three sources, from more people being employed and having more wages to spend, from using new technology or from an increase in the productivity of labour and capital due to new technology.
Since my mother was teaching back in the 1970s, when only 25pc of women had a full-time job, women have filled two new jobs for every one taken by a man. The biggest social change since then has been the fact that 51pc of women are now full-time workers. The figure for men has fallen from 85pc to 67pc. In 1970, women’s average wages were 47pc of men’s. Today it is 94pc.
The employment of extra women has not only added more to GDP than new jobs for men but has contributed more than either productivity or new technology. The huge increase in women graduates and the fact that they are doing better in the Leaving Cert would suggest that much of the increase in productivity comes from the 977,000 women in the workforce.
When we multiply the doubling of the amount of women in work and the gradual catch-up of their wages we can see where, in terms of the sexes, the growth rate of the Irish economy is coming from; it has come from Irish women, not Irish men.
If Irish women have been more important to the economy than men, how do we explain why there are no women board chairs or CEOs in any of the top publicly listed companies in the ISEQ index?
If women are more important to job creation and the economy than men, why are there so few women economic commentators? It’s time to change that – bring it on sisters!
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David McWilliams writes daily on international economics and finance at www.globalmacro360.com
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“men’s voices are amplified far in excess of 49pc of the population. We all know that whoever tells the story, frames it, dictates the parameters and determines, if not the conclusion, the range of conclusions.”
aka: Mansplaining
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansplaining
This forum is Mansplaining HQ. How many women are actually behind these personas/avatars? How’s your meta-data analytics, Dave?
How many identify as gender-neutral politically, if not in terms of clothing in the bedroom/board-room? Role playing traditional stuff can be 50 Shades of Lulz, but “Everyday Sexism”? DOWN WID DAT KINDA TING!”
Fairly weak article. There are lots of women who are knowledgable on economic issues but the reason their views don’t make it to print is not because of their gender but because their views don’t fit in with the “sure isn’t everything great because there is a mini boom in house prices in D4″ point of view which is about the only thing we seem to be reading in our pathetic media at the moment. One that springs to mind straight away and who is an occasional contributor to this forum is Clare Leonard. Clare is very well able to… Read more »
“If Irish women have been more important to the economy than men, how do we explain why there are no women board chairs or CEOs in any of the top publicly listed companies in the ISEQ index?”
Corruption and cronyism, plain and simple. Its the one thing that we are world beaters at here in Ireland.
To be serious, briefly. I wonder if ‘loveable’ Miriam O’Callaghan is The Dark Horse that will eclipse Eddie Mair to take over from the supposedly ferocious Paxman? Can she juggle it all to storm the Saxon Citadel of the BBC? “Ireland’s favourite presenter Miriam O’Callaghan revealed that BBC bosses want her to return to English screens and she is considering her options.The Prime Time presenter worked with BBC’s programme Newsnight early in her career”. That was on Her.ie a couple of years ago. I have ‘contacts’ at the Beeb but they’re doing the siff upper lip stuff and wont’ say… Read more »
“The consumers who buy products create jobs” No they don’t. They create viable demand which is a need for a good or service which can be met with the means of payment. There is plenty of demand in the world for food but if you have no means of payment you get no bread. Jobs are created by people like you McWilliams and others like you. The reason there are so few women in board positions is because they are SUPERIOR to men in that their intuition allows them to understand the knock on effects of sociopathic behaviour for example.… Read more »
“The consumers who buy products create jobs” No they don’t. They create viable demand which is a need for a good or service which can be met with the means of payment. There is plenty of demand in the world for food but if you have no means of payment you get no bread. Jobs are created by people like you McWilliams and others like you. The reason there are so few women in board positions is because they are SUPERIOR to men in that their intuition allows them to understand the knock on effects of sociopathic behaviour for example.… Read more »
Perhaps I’ve grown cynical but putting CEO’s and Media commentators on a pedestal is ‘so last century’.
I’ve met enough CEO’s and top brass in my career to know that each one is a 24/7 workaholic sociopath with a touch of emotionally-stunted autism. Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work, in the office, in the air, in the car, in the bed, on vacation, Christmas holidays, Work Work Work Work Work Work Work.
Miriam O’Callaghan to replace Paxman??? LOLZ. I don’t think so, unless they’re renaming “Newsnight” to “Savaged with a dead sheep”. Someone mentioned Clare Leonard? Sorry Clare, you’re a clever woman with plenty to say, but you need to ditch those Land League freeman New Age pseudoscience nutjobs. Actually, you’d make a better Paxman replacement than M O’C. And I agree with the person who said that women should be free to choose to be home makers. I also am a gender equality enthusiast, but also can’t stand the “women as drop-in replacements for men” bull. They’re not, nor is the… Read more »
Of course, Kitty Purry’s just ‘pop music for screaming queens and teenage girls’ and I’m like, totally ‘off-topic’? Yeah, right…. “With a head for business and a body for sin, Katy Perry has built herself a candy-coated empire. The “Part of Me” singer took home a cool $44 million last year. Known for her signature combination of sex appeal and strong songwriting, Perry isn’t afraid to take risks, like investing $2 million of her own money into her concert film, Katy Perry: Part of Me. “My frugal business manager, God bless HIM, was sweating…” He’s lucky he survived when you… Read more »
Of course, Kitty Purry’s just ‘pop music for screaming queens and teenage girls’ and I’m like, totally ‘off-topic’? Yeah, right….
“With a head for business and a body for sin, Katy Perry has built herself a candy-coated empire. The “Part of Me” singer took home a cool $44 million last year. Known for her signature combination of sex appeal and strong songwriting, Perry isn’t afraid to take risks, like investing $2 million of her own money into her concert film, Katy Perry: Part of Me. “My frugal business manager, God bless HIM, was sweating…”
http://www.policymic.com/articles/59263/katy-perry-s-roar-5-pop-women-who-took-charge-of-their-careers
“The most depressing revelation is that in the US, only 11pc of economics articles in mainstream media are written by women”
On economics commentary this blog has 62% by A Mooney.
It is the central bankers run the economy, nobody else.
We are indentured servitude slaves working out lives to pay for interest charged on imaginary money. slaves to the Ponzi scheme of fiat currency.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ambroseevans-pritchard/100027284/eu-officials-plotted-imf-attack-to-bring-rebellious-italy-to-its-knees/
I’m with cooldude and his comments ab
It is the central bankers run the economy, nobody else.
We are indentured servitude slaves working out lives to pay for interest charged on imaginary money. slaves to the Ponzi scheme of fiat currency.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ambroseevans-pritchard/100027284/eu-officials-plotted-imf-attack-to-bring-rebellious-italy-to-its-knees/
I’m with cooldude and his comments above
Sorry Kitty Purry couldn’t do Dublin, only Belfast. Still, cheap shops and gigs, a road-trip to an alien land. What’s not to like? She asked me and I said “Pass. Dublin is so over, and if you do Brum twice, you get to stay another night with all us Peaky Blinder/Peaky Paddy BrummieBoys. She licked her lips. I could hear it down the phone. I/we survived 48 hours of the satanist Katy Perry just as we survived the Nazi firestorms before my Mom and Dad arrived from Laois to the bombed out craters of the Babylon that was/is/always will be… Read more »
People making a big fuss of gender binaries on talent shows like Eurovision when The Social Media giant Facebook has decided to allow 56 Varieties of self-reporting over biology, gender and sexuality. This is a data-mining nirvana in prospect as they covertly link up porn habits to demographics, class and income stream models. Wot? Did ye think it was all ‘anonymous’ like your seditious behaviour here……. I blame Terry Wogan for causing all this in Birmingham in 1998 when he ‘jumped the shark’ about Israeli trans diva Dana International. My poor auld Dad! He couldn’t conceptualise the changes whereby a… Read more »
“I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire ‘Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar Louder, louder than a lion ‘Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar Oh oh oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh oh oh You’re gonna hear me roar Now I’m floating like a butterfly Stinging like a bee I earned my stripes I went from zero, to my own hero” Note the Illooominati mischief-making in supposedly pop-froth anthem “Roar!” She refers to herself as both… Read more »
OK, that’s it folks. Thanks for you patience, especially David. And the goldbugs, Glass Seagull lot. This is the end of my posts under this pseudo-anonymous name as I will be adopting my Illuminati ‘Real Name’ in all future communications with the human race. I was born Andrew G, but my confirmation name was George. DragonSlayer. But that’s too gender-specific and all have too much cultural baggage, so I’ve been struggling to find a new name that is free of ‘citizen’/’subject’, nation, race, geography, gender, species. Thanks to the triggers of this thread I’ve found it at long last. And… Read more »
How are you today Andrew. Maybe you should change your medication as it seems a bit strong.
Whatever you are on Mr. Mooney – bring some of it to Kilkenomics this year – and your Katy Perry CDs.
I’ve never even heard but one of her songs.
The reason there are very few women commentators, they are not as good as the men. Irish radio doesn’t have very many good commentators at all. In fact most are dull listless and boring. Miriam O’Callaghan is a bore. Her voice is grating and she has nothing to say. The witch at the weekend with the smokers voice, boring dull and nothing to say. Turd, Brendan, I hate myself O’Conner, George I have marbles in my mouth, Hook etc. etc. These are broadcasters with “experience” but they are dreadfully boring. Joe the midday moan Duffey, Pat the plank. on and… Read more »
Women on Air scary? Ah no surely! I’m a big fan of Margaret E Ward. I wish they had kept her on in the business slot in Newstalk. Bad call. Ian Guider’s views are grating. Ah well…don’t listen to news these days. ‘Bring it on sisters’ ??? David…..
CODA [Part 1 of 2] From the Legacy Issues Office of “AndrewGMooney”: Hello again “cooldude”. The transmission from “The Man From Another Place” has now concluded. I hope this response is both helpful and meaningful to you. Here it is: “”It is happening again….it….is……happening….again” *wink*…… Fool. Instead of engaging with the topic of the thread you have attempted to switch from the issues of Feminism and Sexism to Mentalism – the unexamined prejudice against non-standard forms of cognition. You must surely realise that you have walked into the trap which I deliberately set? Of course, you are also dissing many… Read more »
On the subject of lack of talent in Irish Media, what has happened to Gene Kerby and Constantin Gurdgiev regarding their weekly slots in The (Irish) Sunday Times ‘Business Section’? Have they been replaced? They were the only two dissenting regulars in the Business Section who incidentally were also the most entertaining. The paper’s other economic commentators are all patsy cheerleaders. I’ll be ditching the Times if they don’t return, which leaves no (Irish focus) Sunday paper worth buying, as I’d not wipe my bum with the Irish papers. I’ve a journalist friend works in one of those Sunday rags,… Read more »
http://www.irishtimes.com/business/no-limits-on-getting-ahead-for-today-s-top-businesswomen-1.1798379
No limits on getting ahead for today’s top businesswomen 130516 Irish Times
Subscribe to comments above that it is entirely a CHOICE for women to stay at home and be in charge of the house nowadays. Traditionally in the past where there may not have been anything close to equality in the pay or career progression for women it was the only rational choice for a women to stay home as it would not have made sense to sacrifice the higher salary or prospects of the male partner. Now that equality issues that have been at the forefront of the agenda for quite some time and have gone some way to addressing… Read more »
There is a particular type of character that I am sure everybody is familiar with. These types are not unique at all as I’ve seen it so often in the past, present and am sure it will be an on-going phenomena for the unforeseeable future as well. The characteristics are: – They have big plans and vision for the future to set up a business and make loads of money. – They know exactly and in great detail the dos and donts of how a business should be run. – They talk the talk – THEY Are very optimistic of… Read more »
We’ve had this pseudo-political meme in the media and public sector since about the time that the Berlin Wall came down. It’s always seemed to me to be a replacement for the class conflicts of previous decades. For me, any society that lets a political movement get enough power to dominate the laws, and especially the employment laws, to the extent that this one has, is in all sorts of trouble. Glenn Greenwald summed it up nicely, recently, by saying that Mrs Clinton would be the next US president simply because she was a woman, and after her we’d get… Read more »
fao: AdamAbyss, 5 Fingers & others: The PDF was safe but sent in error. My bad! I’m just an intern here so don’t be too harsh on me. Must go as I have a show to prepare for in a few hours at the Dublin 02 arena and my fellow intern Kitty Purry is onstage tomorrow night in Liverpool. Some completely mad Peaky Paddy folk from Birmingham are going to both. Having played there last Friday night and barely got out alive, I’m looking forward to a nice, quiet show tonight. “The audience participation went well enough for Miley to… Read more »