The Other Hand

We will not be cancelled Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lots of economic data on both sides of the Atlantic are now pointing to slowing growth. Very slow in the case of Europe, a bit slower in the US. Even the US labour market is no longer defying gravity. Is Ireland just an extension of the US economy? It certainly is extremely correlated with US economic performance. It looks like the Corporation tax boom is over. For once, economists can say 'we tol...

With Professor Shane O'Mara Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The US Congress is not a serious legislature Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Nathan Johns of The Irish Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is ESG investing getting it right? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will the ECB this week do the right thing? (Spoiler alert: nothing) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nathan Johns @nathanrjohns of the Irish Times discusses all of the action in this weekend's quarter finals of the Rugby World Cup. One unfancied team making the semis is ok, two reveals poor RWC seeding & planning. But Nathan convincingly argues that calibrating these things is difficult. Nathan persuades Chris that the 'technical' aspects of the game are as important as the flashier, more 'en...

The end of liberal conceits? Chris thinks there is evidence for the existence of more anti-Semitism in the world, latent or otherwise, than most are prepared to admit. In the UK, few people can quite bring themselves to believe the evidence of their own eyes and admit to the anti-Semitism present in the Labour party - at least until Starmer began to clean the stables. Everyone, everywhere, says th...

Octabuild were kind enough to host Jim & Chris for a Webinar discussing all things Budget 2024, with a special focus on the construction industry. The 8 member companies of Octabuild are Dulux Paints, Etex Ireland, Glennon Brothers, Grant Engineering, Gyproc, Irish Cement, Kingspan Insulation and Wavin Ireland ’. The national housing crisis puts the construction industry at the heart...

Ireland's export data weakens again. It's beginning to look like a trend. And maybe the world economy is weaker than we thought. The Health Service needs more money. How many countries can say that? It's as true in Ireland as elsewhere. But the suspicion grows that you could give the HSE any amount of money and it would still have a budget hole of €2 billion at the end of the year. Any year. Someb...

Why Ireland lost in a game of the finest of margins - really. On the numbers, Ireland and New Zealand could replay that game, deploy the same players and tactics, and Ireland would win 9 games out of 10. This was the tenth game. What about Ireland going forward - looking good, even in terms of replacing Jonny Sexton. Tight Head Prop, a massively under-rated position, could be more problematic. How...

Everything really is connected to everything else Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We really are doing economic policy all wrong Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

They really deserved to win this one Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Professor Charlotte Cavaillé is a global expert on inequality and redistribution. Her extensive research program has reframed the discussion such that our perceptions of fairness are front and centre. With some surprising results. In many countries, particularly the US and UK, inequality has risen. Economists might argue that self-interested electorates, which contain increasing numbers of people...

Do we have a right brain problem? Author and journalist Matthew Syed said so in a recent fascinating Sunday Times column. Professor of Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin, Shane O'Mara, says no. So why is our political discourse, pretty much everywhere, so polarised, context & nuance free, and just so nasty? Why, when we know, with as much certainty as we can muster, that the world is a ver...

Are equities heading for an October event? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Batten down the hatches? Fat chance Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Time for rocket scientists to stop blowing up the (economic) world Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In an Irish Times Article that has gone globally viral, journalist Nathan Johns, @nathanrjohns, analysed data that suggests S. Africa might have won that match. Perhaps even deserved to win that match. But they lost. Why? Numbers are not quite everything it seems. Nearly everything, but not everything. Chris looks forward to a Wales victory in the semi final. Maybe even against Ireland. Hosted on...

A big week in financial markets: bond yields are up to multi-year highs. All other asset prices have been affected. Equities are down, exchange rates are all over the place. The new narrative is interest rates 'higher for longer'. Wethink this could be yet another narrative fallacy. Interest rates were left unchanged in the US and UK following the ECB's latest dopey hike. Economies are weakening u...

Latest data and forecasts for the Irish economy suggest 'growing but slowing' Unemployment is forecast to stay very low - essentially an economy at full employment Unemployment in many countries is forecast to stay low, despite low or no growth. That's because labour markets have been puzzlingly tight for years. Are we just extrapolating the recent past and forgetting that unemployment could rise?...

Lots of great rugby over the last two weekends. Uruguay scare France by playing running rugby. Really entertaining stuff. One poor clearance kick undid the Uruguayans. The kicking game. Tonga show Ireland up at the breakdown. Another problem for Paul O'Connell England, so boring - but so what? A tight point spread for Ireland S. Africa? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

US inflation rose again last month: is the good news over? The Saudi-Russian alliance seems determined to get oil prices up to $100. That could mean €2+ for a litre or petrol and/or diesel. Interest rates look to be in 'higher for longer mode'. There is nothing good that flows from $100 oil - other than an economic slowdown/recession that will cut fossil fuel consumption & help, a little, the...