The Other Hand

Everybody in financial markets is starting to ask: is this another bubble, a near quarter century after the dot.com crash? Are those comparisons with 1999/2000 valid or is the AI boom for real? What does AI think of the AI 'bubble'? The UK ends its mild recession but lots of workers are going on the sick - the long term sick. This could be a real problem for growth prospects. The Central Bank of I...

All the latest economic data Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All the latest economic news. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the numbers, the Irish economy is in recession - but is it? Talking to one segment of the Irish diaspora - what do they think of their host country? And their thoughts on Ireland. European inflation comes in at 2.6% vs 2.5% expected. How awful. "The incumbent government is deeply unpopular with younger voters because NIMBY older voters are allowed to block all development" Which country is desc...

Current opinion polls are pointing towards another coalition government. How long would those coalition negotiations take? Would a prolonged period of no government be a bad thing for business and the economy? Are banks making too much money? If so, what is the right remedy? Tax those profits? Break them up to force competition? Encourage Fintech new entrants? Irish jobs at a record high. A truly...

House prices rise in Ireland - - for the fourth month is a row? How come? Plenty of buyers is the simple answer. It seems that higher interest rates don't work in the way they used to. Do they even work at all? Speaking of interest rates, the prominent economist who got the US - and global - inflation story right, and therefore the interest rate story right, is musing about the possibility that th...

A lawyer - a 'special prosecutor' - recently caused a furore with an allegation about Joe Biden's 'cognitive decline' In conversation with Professor of neuroscience Shane O'Mara we explore the mysteries of ageing and the emerging evidence about how to maximise our chances of becoming a 'Super Ager' That lawyer shouldn't have tried to diagnose Biden. Nor should any non-specialist. There are strict...

The other day we received the longest email ever sent to The Other Hand. It was a thoughtful point-by-point critique of pretty much everything we have said about Trump, Biden and the state of American politics. We get lots of emails and comments and Tweets etc. We try to reply respectfully to as many as we can. Indeed, we encourage the conversation. In replying to this email we attempt something d...

What is public service broadcasting for? Why does RTE exist? Should it? Whatever the answers to these questions, a new model for public serve broadcasting is sorely needed. Populist suggestions for an amnesty for licence fee dodgers are unserious politics. But that's the dilemma facing Sinn Fein: become a party of teh centre or spout more populist nonsense? As they lose votes to the anti-immigrant...

Inflation comes in higher than expected in the U.S. Markets push interest rate cuts further into the future. Inflation comes in lower than expected in the U.K. Markets think the Bank of England has a green light to cut soon. This might come as a surprise: nobody is quite sure what causes inflation. Central bank models assume the link between interest rates and inflation is via the labour market -...

Ever heard of DEXIT? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Bruton RIP Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'Dr Strangelove' was a 1960s movie that satirised the cold war. It explored 'Mutually Assured Destruction' and was a riff, in a way, on 'game theory'. A number of characters have emerged that echo Strangelove. The US economy continues to power ahead, not least in terms of almost unbelievable job creation. Higher interest rates were supposed to cool the economy, destroy jobs and therefore lower inf...

Sleepwalking to war? Not so much! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The super soaraway US economy and stock market Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's coming up the 75th anniversary of the publication of George Orwell's 1984. We discuss with professor Shane O'Mara the various psychological insights of Orwell and how they endure and resonate to the present day. We don't like chaos and detest change. When our beliefs don't cost us anything - and keep us on good terms with fellow group members - we don't care about the facts. Winston Smith's t...

'The Bitter lessons of Brexit'. We all fervently wish that Brexit has gone away. It hasn't. It's more like a slow moving chronic disease but it is sill an infection for the economy and the UK at large. It's going to stay that way. Was Darwin wrong? Could evolution go into reverse? Evidence of Homo Sapiens losing their backbone are everywhere, especially in Washington DC. De Santis demonises Trump...

Trump is ahead in he polls and could be the next leader of the free world. He has promised to be a 'dictator for a day' Will it be the catastrophe that most seem to expect? Is everything he says wrong? Are liberals the ones who have created the conditions for the global march of right-wing populism? Immigration is the big controversy everywhere. Nobody is debating it rationally. We give it a try....

Latest trade data for Ireland suggest exports are struggling - for the first prolonged period in quite a while. That points to a world trade slowdown - and generalised economic weakness everywhere (apart from the US). Irish GDP could well shrink in 2024 if this continues - for the second year in a row. Inflation surprising to the upside is now a more-or-less global phenomenon after much bigger tha...

Low or no economic growth is a bigger problem than most people realise. What we don't know about growth might surprise you. Too many country's are losing interest in growth. Not Ireland - yet. But unless growth is nurtured it will be quick to disappear. And there are plenty of warning signs on the horizon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

China wants Taiwan on the same terms that it took Hong Kong. 'One country two systems'. A bargain that Xi Jingping failed to honour. No wonder most Taiwanese are suspicious. Taiwan's upcoming Presidential election merits close attention. There probably isn't a 'good' outcome. Just ones that hasten or defer a potential confrontation. Latest inflation data, for end 2023, has generally disappointed....

How many centrist political parties does Ireland need? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Another year of forecasts, mostly wrong. And another season for making forecasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over 100 countries will have elections of one kind or another during 2024. Some analysts think that will be the largest number in history. A lot of those elections could be very consequential. We start the year with Taiwanese elections - the outcome could well provoke China, widely thought to be preparing for a possible war by the end of the decade. We end with the possible return of Trump. How ba...

The IDA's annual report on companies supported by them shows tech job losses. This is consistent with Ireland's external trade data - although the latter remains heavily distorted by post-pandemic return to normal for pharmaceutical exports. Three central banks met this week. All left interest rates unchanged but delivered very different messages. Members of the Federal Reserve's rate setting comm...