How to spend the €65bn budget surplus: Four options from safe to riskyAnalysis: Arguments for prudence will be balanced by the Cabinet with immediate needs of the economy and short-term political popularityTue May 09 2023 - 11:35
Cliff Taylor: Meet John and Mary, the 40-somethings caught in the mortgage squeezeNow that their homes have just about recovered to the price they paid for them, they are being hit by the sharpest interest rate rise in recent historySun May 07 2023 - 05:00
ECB rates move poses some tricky questions for GovernmentCliff Taylor: Lagarde told politicians to reduce cost-of-living supports to households and so, cut demand and lower inflationary pressuresThu May 04 2023 - 18:01
Interest rate rises: Are you one of the borrowers being hammered?Cliff Taylor: Those on tracker mortgages are the most exposed as they are tied to the ECB rateThu May 04 2023 - 11:13
Cliff Taylor: Sinn Féin will soon have to stick or twist on plans to tax the richThe political calculation the party has to make is how its tax plans will play with the middle groundSat Apr 29 2023 - 05:00
Why do interest rates keep rising no matter what problems it causes for households?Cliff Taylor: Raising rates is the ECB’s primary weapon in the fight against inflationThu Apr 27 2023 - 12:15
Cliff Taylor: Will the new housing plan work and will it lower prices?Having argued for incentives, builders must now deliverTue Apr 25 2023 - 16:50
Q&A: Will housing plan to remove development levies benefit homebuyers?The contributions are paid to local authorities by developers when they build residential or commercial buildingsTue Apr 25 2023 - 10:24
Cliff Taylor: Having ‘struck oil’, Ireland faces big decisions about what to do with all this moneyThis week’s budget surplus forecast changes everything. At a time when other countries are scrambling for cash, Ireland is swimming in itSun Apr 23 2023 - 06:00
How should the State’s €16 billion surplus be spent? Here are 16 ideas Cliff Taylor: From cutting taxes to funding health, how will the Government disburse the forecast surplus in public finances?Thu Apr 20 2023 - 12:21
Cliff Taylor: A generation is stuck living at home due to the long-term housing shortageIreland’s housing crisis took many years to emerge and unfortunately it will many more to fixSat Apr 08 2023 - 05:00
Is the current rate of inflation way lower than we think?Households have been hit hard by prices way above last year's levels - but research suggests that the annual figures could be overestimating what is happening at the momentThu Apr 06 2023 - 11:01
New corporation tax rules: Will they make Ireland richer or poorer?Q&A with Cliff Taylor: Multinationals with Irish headquarters and the biggest Irish companies will face significant new reporting requirement – and higher tax billsMon Apr 03 2023 - 14:49
Cliff Taylor: Ireland has lots of cash, but must get better at spending itEveryone agrees that the State will spend a bag of money addressing housing and health. But what comes next?Sun Apr 02 2023 - 05:00
Corporation tax receipts: Why it may not be all bad news for IrelandSmart Money: There is a lot at stake for the State in the uncertainty surrounding the international path of the taxThu Mar 30 2023 - 12:00
Ireland set to avoid implementing 15% headline corporate tax rateGovernment considering a top-up tax for companies with turnover in excess of €750m, aiming to ensure that they pay minimum effective rate of 15% on earnings hereTue Mar 28 2023 - 05:00
The price of a mistake by the ECB in raising rates would be highCliff Taylor: Communication to the market from central banks and governments is now vital, as are actions to deal with any problems that emergeFri Mar 24 2023 - 16:18
Why Irish households may not see lower energy bills any time soon even as ESB doubles its profitsEnergy company's record profits may not feed through to customers quicklyThu Mar 23 2023 - 11:35
Banking crisis: What it means for interest ratesCliff Taylor: Will cost of mortgages continue to climb?Mon Mar 20 2023 - 15:54
We are seeing echoes now of the run-up to the 2008 crashSilicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse have sent tremors around the world, but experts believe European banks can weather the stormSun Mar 19 2023 - 06:00
What is really causing landlords to leave the Irish rental market?Cliff Taylor: Government needs to decide what kind of rental market it wantsThu Mar 16 2023 - 12:04
Cliff Taylor: Is Ireland really committed to private rental - or is it all about home ownership?Houses are just being shuffled between two under-supplied markets: rental and home ownershipSat Mar 11 2023 - 00:01
Congestion charges are looming for Irish motorists. Here’s how they work elsewhereSmart Money: A political row is approaching as Ministers try to find a way to get motorists out of their carsThu Mar 09 2023 - 10:42
Why AIB didn’t treat ordinary borrowers the way it treated DJ Carey Banks never trumpet debt writedowns to smaller borrowers, because then everyone will want oneSat Mar 04 2023 - 05:00
Why is it so difficult to find a second-hand house on the Irish market?Smart Money: Latest data shows supply of second-hand properties for sale is hugely constrained across the StateThu Mar 02 2023 - 11:51
Cliff Taylor: Interest rates are likely to go a lot higher than we had expectedECB’s hawkish approach, spurred on by the likelihood that euro zone will avoid recession, is a huge blow for anyone with a mortgageSat Feb 25 2023 - 00:00
Digital euro: What you need to know about the plan that could revolutionise how we pay for everythingThe ECB must navigate the controversial world of digital currency, with concerns about privacy certain to be writ largeThu Feb 23 2023 - 10:50
Cliff Taylor: We are witnessing the first skirmishes in a new war for resources in IrelandWe are all going to face higher tax bills – even if our politicians aren’t keen on telling usSun Feb 19 2023 - 05:00
Cost-of-living package: will you be better off after the big announcement?Debates are under way on VAT on fuel, energy supports and what cash to direct at households, with implications for your pocketThu Feb 16 2023 - 12:00
Why can’t Ireland build enough houses? Because builders are busy with suburban renovationsRenovations are more economically viable for builders but they are making it increasingly hard to build new homesSat Feb 11 2023 - 00:00
Is mortgage interest relief really on the way back for Irish borrowers?Smart Money: Rising interest rates are punishing borrowers and Ministers are under pressure to actThu Feb 09 2023 - 10:45
Leprechaun economics: Ireland’s international status as a tax haven is no longer a debateActivities of multinationals that distort national economic data now key factor in how people internationally look at Irish economyFri Feb 03 2023 - 13:50
Cliff Taylor: The big question on interest rate hikes is how much will they damage the economy?The average rate on a tracker mortgage will now rise to over 4 per centThu Feb 02 2023 - 15:40
We are starting to see the shape of the post-Covid city centreHybrid working has led to much quieter office districts and the suburbs are exerting a greater pullThu Feb 02 2023 - 12:23
How high could interest rates go? Fasten your seat-beltsThe outlook is improving but interest rates look set to rise several more times before the summerSat Jan 28 2023 - 00:00
The real reasons why women get paid less than menSmart Money: Male and female graduates get roughly the same pay when they enter the workforce, but not for longThu Jan 26 2023 - 10:50
Cliff Taylor: A big financial gap is opening up in the State’s housing plansThe money is out there but it’s vital that it be directed into the right kind of investment and not into wheezes such as ill-considered tax breaksSat Jan 14 2023 - 05:00
Are we waiting for an Irish recession which may never arrive?Smart Money: It’s just possible that the Irish economy will hang on inThu Jan 12 2023 - 10:53
Promising news on inflation but the cost-of-living crisis will rumble onThe euro zone may be out of double-digit inflation but there is no going back to the utility bills or food prices of 2019Sat Jan 07 2023 - 05:00
Wholesale gas prices are dropping - so how long before your household bills fall too?Wholesale energy prices are falling, yet it may be some time before retail bills actually fallThu Jan 05 2023 - 11:31
Corporation tax booms again, but can the trick be repeated?Cliff Taylor: Reliance on a small number of business sectors leaves the exchequer vulnerableWed Jan 04 2023 - 17:57
From low unemployment to record exchequer returns: Reasons to be optimistic about the Irish economy in 2023Ireland has moved from a position when a lot of factors were in its favour to a more mixed pictureSat Dec 31 2022 - 05:00
Cliff Taylor: Traditional economic certainties are breaking downCentral banks still base actions on old-world theories amid fears inflation is getting embedded. Ireland must brace itself for shifts in global policySat Dec 24 2022 - 05:00
Economy in 2022: Ireland’s two tiers have come into sharp focus State’s multinational sector is booming despite tech sector wobbles as consumers and smaller businesses feel the painSat Dec 24 2022 - 05:00
Working from home is definitely here to stay, but can you get your ideal arrangement?Cliff Taylor: Some things will revert back to the way they were pre-Covid, but the world of work has changed fundamentally.Thu Dec 22 2022 - 12:47
Real politics is on the way back and it is not going to be prettyThe debate is continuity versus change and the risk for the Government is that, right now, the polls show change is winningSat Dec 17 2022 - 05:00
Here is the argument for increasing tax on inheritances in IrelandSmart Money: The issue of taxing wealth and increasing the tax take on inheritance in Ireland looms large - but will not be relished by politiciansThu Dec 15 2022 - 10:20
A big gap is appearing in the funding of new home constructionWith banks still constrained post-crash and investors switching money out of construction, innovative ways must be found to finance the creation of the homes our nation needsSat Dec 10 2022 - 05:00
Electric cars will mean new motorist charges to fill exchequer holeSmart Money: The exchequer faces a big loss as more and more electric cars replace petrol and diesel. Motorists are likely to be asked to fill the gapThu Dec 08 2022 - 11:06
Cliff Taylor: Despite the economic slowdown, the exchequer is now awash with cashWhile growth is slowing, peak tax returns should enable the State to keep investing in the stability of our economic futureSat Dec 03 2022 - 00:01
