Economists offer what is arguably the most internally consistent framework for sustainable development assessment, the so-called “capital approach”. To operationalise the capital approach measures of the changes in comprehensive national wealth (Genuine Savings) are required. In this paper, we present estimates of Ireland’s Genuine Savings using the updated public spending code for direction and compare our results with existing estimates in the literature. For practical sustainability assessment, no single indicator is capable of providing an all-encompassing answer, but as we demonstrate, the current monitoring of sustainable development in Ireland and across the EU lacks coherence. We suggest potential paths forward for sustainability policy and assessment that preserve the link with economic theory. We show that regardless of the viewpoint taken on sustainability the capital approach can provide guidance for a coherent assessment framework.

Relative to the rest of the EU, Ireland is especially vulnerable to the fallout from Brexit, both economically and politically. With increasing frustration over the reaction from Brussels, some are suggesting that an Irish exit from the EU would benefit the nation. A key argument for this is that it would allow for reintegration with the UK, thus reinstating close ties with one of its largest trading partners. Using a structurally estimated general equilibrium model, we estimate that such a move would substantially worsen the impacts of Brexit, with lower-skill and agricultural workers being disproportionately affected. This is due to the fact that while the UK is one of Ireland’s most important trading partners, trade with the rest of the EU is much more important.

This paper investigates the effects of public debt and distortionary labour taxation on the long-run behaviour of Irish relative non-traded goods prices. We highlight that higher public debt, acting through higher taxes, has an equivocal impact on the relative supply of non-traded goods and, correspondingly, relative prices. Our empirical analysis for Ireland suggests that taxes and public debt play significant roles in the long run, comoving negatively with the relative price of non-tradables. Accordingly, shifts in public debt and taxation bear implications for the country’s international price competitiveness.

Criminal justice policy in Ireland is often criticised for lacking a robust evidence base. Increased knowledge about crime and criminal justice may act to enrich all types of criminological enquiry and policy formation. This paper explores the potential of large population registries, similar to those created in the health sector, to inform criminal justice policymaking. The paper looks at the importance of such data collection for criminal justice research and policy and the potential hurdles to its development.

However, thinking through systematically about the kinds of changes one could bring about to make globalisation work, or at least work better than it has been working, seemed to me something that was really very important. So what I did in this book, and what I will try to do in this lecture, is first to list what has gone wrong and which grievances, amongst all those that have been raised, are the most legitimate. Second, I will analyse how things have been changing and explore whether they have been getting better or worse. Third, I will make a diagnosis of why globalisation has not been living up to its potential and why it is failing in each of the several areas that I am going to talk about. Finally, based on that diagnosis, I will discuss what can be done to at least ameliorate some of the problem situations.

Most assessments of British economic policy in the transition from war to peace after\n1945 praise the strategy adopted. This paper draws on recent growth theory and analysis of\neastern European liberalisation to argue that British policy was seriously flawed. In particular, a heavy price was paid for the social contract and delayed liberalisation in the 1945-55 period in terms of subsequent growth and productivity performance. Policy choices, notably with regard to taxation and industrial relations, were, however, heavily constrained by political circumstances.