Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Apple set to lose billions in EU state aid case

The Financial Times reported on September 30th that the European Commission has decided to open a formal investigation into whether Apple received illegal subsidies (“state aid,” in EU-speak) from Ireland going as far back as 1991. The FT quotes “people involved in the case” as saying that this can cost Apple billions of euros. What […]

Irish austerity exodus lingers on

August brings us the annual Irish immigration data, so it’s time to look at what has happened in their statistical reporting “year” that ended in April 2014. While better than last year, it’s still not pretty. According to the Central Statistics Office, net emigration continued in 2013-14, with net emigration of 21,400. a decline of […]

Ireland, Krugman, Kenneth Thomas

Paul Krugman points to Angry Bear Kenneth Thomas in this piece in the New York Times on the use of Ireland as somehow a success story of what are failed policies regarding employment: Ireland Is The Success Story Of The Future, And Always Will Be Via Mark Thoma, Kenneth Thomas analyzes the latest attempt to […]

Is Ireland the Poster Child of Growth?

by Rebecca Wilder Is Ireland the Poster Child of Growth? I wanted to familiarize myself with the economic statistics in Ireland, so I thought that I’d share my findings with you all. Many politicians refer to Ireland as the poster child of austerity – according to the contentious thesis of expansionary austerity (a review from the […]

A Modest Forecast: The Average Real Growth in Ireland will Exceed 10% a Year From 2012 to 2014

by Mike Kimel A Modest Forecast: The Average Real Growth in Ireland will Exceed 10% a Year From 2012 to 2014  You read the title correctly: the Irish economy will grow by more than 10% next year. Now, hearing that, you might be asking yourself: “Is this guy for real? He must be nuts.”  Because […]

Wilder’s News on Europe

Rebecca Wilder has shifted to publishing her insightful articles on Europe back to her Newsneconomics platform, but will continue to publish on US topics and US/Europe connections on Angry Bear. I think that the shift is smart…the audience for Angry Bear is focused more on the US and as the election cycle is already quite […]

Greece will not be ‘allowed’ to default until policy shores up the Irish bond market

Just look at Tracy Alloway’s imagery at FT Alphaville, and you’ll know what’s expected: an imminent Greek default. I still argue no, although European policy tactics are quite enigmatic and their next move is really anyone’s guess. Alas, here’s mine. Assuming that Greece does not secede from the Euro area, I give you three reasons […]

Update on conditions in Ireland…another letter from Ireland

The first letter from Ireland is here Update on conditions in Ireland…a second letter from Ireland Ireland, Land of Thieves, Charlatans and Sodomites… Zeus-Boy We’re forced to do silly things out of desperation, things that other nations don’t have to resort to. For instance, we’ve the lowest corporate tax rate in Europe at 12.5%. Sarkozy […]

Ireland – The Questions Nobody Seems to be Asking

by Mike Kimel Ireland – The Questions Nobody Seems to be AskingCross-posted at the the Presimetrics blog. Talk about deja vu all over again. Here’s Tyler Cowen talking about the Ireland bailout, and linking to Megan McArdle discussing the same. Its deja vu, for me, because it seems just about everyone commenting on the issue […]