Dear Madam, I wish to apply for the position of Thursday Columnist, which I understand had recently become vacant. I believe I possess many of the requisite characteristics for the job, chiefly the fact that although I hung round a …
Tag Archive: recession
Nov
06
Knowledge based economy
Ireland is dotted with small groups (sports clubs, community groups, fund raising committees, parish councils) all working on a small scale. These groups are voluntary, with limited budgets. There’s a a chairman, a treasurer, a secretary, a PRO, perhaps two …
Sep
30
Remember this?
Brian Lenihan said the bank guarantee scheme was “a necessary first step” and “the cheapest bailout in the world so far” compared with bank rescues where “billions and billions of taxpayers’ money are being poured into financial institutions”. “It allows …
Sep
25
Confidence in action
How much will we owe in 2012? Ireland’s Debt/GDP reached a record low of 25% in 2006. At the end of 2009, it stood at 66%, as the government went on a borrowing spree to bail out banks while tax …
Sep
07
News Cycling
At midday, the government will publish the report of the Commission on Taxation Reform. I’m busy working today, so I won’t have a chance to follow the reaction, but I can make some predictions. RTÉ have announced that their flagship …
Sep
02
Rock Bottom
Anyone seeking for a metaphor for all that is wrong with Ireland at the moment need look no farther than the Dublin docklands. There, you will find the proposed new headquarters for Anglo Irish Bank, a building planned in happier …
Aug
21
Depressing Thoughts
Over a year ago, I wrote about reluctance the use of the dreaded R word when discussing the Irish economy: Recession. That was then, this is now. Recession is yesterday’s news. Today’s news is NAMA, bank bailouts, Liam Carroll, and …
Jul
02
Snip
Thanks to a confidential source, 200 words is in a position to reveal several exclusive fund raising ideas from that An Bord Snip Nua report: Demand a few billion from the EU Commissioners to do an Ahmadinejad on the second …
May
07
Bad News Bears
There’s a lot of shooting the messenger going on at the moment. An article in the New York Times, or a wrong word in a report from the IMF, and they’re off. ‘There has been comment which has been neither …
Mar
30
Comeback
Nine days from now, Brian Lenihan will stand before the Dáil and announce the government’s latest budget. The cabinet has made quite display of how seriously they take the crisis in public finances, even holding a meeting on a Sunday. …