Cliff Taylor

New figures show that the earnings base has been transformed, with a big economic impact, including in the housing market

Most people favour wealth taxes in theory, though they don’t consider themselves wealthy - but almost nobody seems to be in favour of inheritance tax

Couples with six-figure joint incomes are priced out, but the market is still flush with cash

A little imagination and a bit of cash could stop a childcare problem turning into a crisis

The locked-out generation is a key election battleground: Sinn Féin will hope its policy lands with them

Calls for new quangos should resisted, but there are three reasons to support the establishment of a small powerful group to oversee housing delivery

The economic risks of Donald Trump’s policies have big implications for Ireland - it is time to start taking them much more seriously

The risk is that by the time there is a wider acceptance of the need to move more quickly on vital infrastructure projects, it will be too late

Everyone is spinning a yarn ahead of October 1st — as Roy Keane might say, ‘they are only doing their jobs’

Another Trump presidency is not good news for the classic middle men of a globalised world economy

Michael McGrath’s much-rumoured move to Brussels would leave Paschal Donohoe to face a solo battle over spending demands in the run in to a general election

Ireland’s politicians could not resist a bit of bank-bashing in an election week

The State risks losing out as a bidding war breaks out for major projects between the big countries, including huge subsidies for US companies to encourage them to invest at home

The Department of Housing’s reply to the landmark report was to say that most of what it called for is already being done, If so, why is the commission calling for a ‘radical reset’?

Intel is selling a stake in its Irish plant - how much of the money is invested here will be an indication of whether Ireland’s appeal is waning

Lack of funding forces colleges to charge heavily for accommodation, get in high-paying students from outside the EU and try to milk cash from features like the Book of Kells

Three new developments in housing emerged this week - and not one of them is good news for anyone trying to buy a home

A country which has prospered for many years from being all things to all people is facing some new and difficult questions, particularly if Donald Trump is the next US president

The cocktail called the “budget bonanza” features some reasonable pre-budget suggestions sloshing around with some very poor ones

Falling interest rates will, of course, help prospective buyers too. But they are buying into a market that’s only getting hotter

Irish unity report highlights how analysis of the costs and potential pay-offs is now required

The new Taoiseach can bring fresh energy, but has he new ideas that can improve the lives of the younger voters the party is desperate to attract ?

If Trump returns, the risk will be of a more extreme presidency, featuring aggressive policies on trade and investment with unpredictable consequences for the Irish economy

The lights are not flashing red — but they are now on orange

Many homeowners want to move, but the most severe lack of supply seen in many years is making it impossible for most of them to find a property

When the board is having emergency meetings seven months into a controversy, you know things are not good

Ireland needs to invest massively – in housing, infrastructure, public transport, climate change. But as the public finances tighten this will require better delivery and tough decisions

Red flags are being raised about the Republic’s ability to provide basic services to large employers

Last week’s DUP deal underlines the North’s links to the British market and casts doubts on its willingness to follow EU rules - this puts a big opportunity at risk

State supports like the Help-to Buy and First Home schemes are helping people buy their first home, but there can be risks here for buyers

Government policies are piling extra costs on Irish companies, adding to problems post-Covid - domestic businesses are facing a difficult 2024

There could hardly be a worse time, from the Government’s perpsective, to try to do a public sector pay deal. The surge in taxes has created a mood that pretty much anything can be afforded

The party’s politics works by setting ‘outsiders’ against home-owning ‘insiders’. But fixes demand complex trade-offs

The financial markets gambled — and bet heavily — against the mantra from the central banks that interest rates will have to stay ‘higher for longer’ to reduce inflation. What if they’re wrong?

Ireland has thrived from its openness. If this changes it will be hugely costly

Housing policy is being set by the older generation, who are generally living in their own homes

Politics versus prudence will be a big clash next year : after several Big Mac budgets, can the Coalition really offer voters a hamburger?

Ireland is risking an abundance of private opulence and public squalor

Non-nationals filled half of the additional jobs created over the past year, allowing the jobs market to surge to a new high

The economy is slowing and tax revenues are under pressure - the odds on Ireland going to the polls in the first half of 2024 are rising