By Lisbeth Latham. Global wealth inequality is reaching historic highs. Inequalities have been both highlighted and exacerbated by the current crisis. However, while the world’s super-rich are obscenely wealthy, most discourse around this issue fundamentally misunderstands and misrepresents the nature of much of this wealth – which, in turn, can […]
EU-Mercosur agreement will devastate industries and environment in Latin America
By Veronica Ocvirk. The free trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur bloc of Latin American countries will benefit EU multinationals but pose serious disadvantages for local industries in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. “President, we have an agreement!” This WhatsApp audio message went viral in Argentina with […]
Financing the Just Transition in the north of Ireland despite limited powers
By Seán Fearon. A significant but narrowing gap in the Irish just transition literature is how we intend to finance just transition policy, and specifically, what types of finance are best suited to advancing myriad radical policy initiatives. The answers to this puzzle in green-left circles increasingly form a combination […]
For an ambitious EU Financial Transaction Tax worthy of the name
After neoliberalism: Naked class war aided by the state
By Zack Breslin. Neoliberalism has been exposed as a failed doctrine, first by the financial crisis that erupted more than a decade ago and now by the Covid-19 pandemic. What replaces it? The seismic events of the financial crash of 2008 revealed the consequences of allowing rampant financial capitalism to […]
Ireland’s Apple antics fuel global race to the bottom on corporate tax
By Mairéad Farrell TD. Last Wednesday, July 15, there was a collective sigh of relief from the government. The European Union’s General Court had ruled against the EU Commission in Ireland and Apple’s appeal against its state aid ruling. The Court found that the 0.005% corporate tax rate that Apple […]
Greenwashing austerity
By Emma Clancy. Members of the Irish Green Party voted overwhelmingly to enter a coalition with the two traditionally dominant centre-right parties on Friday. Coming less than a decade after the Greens were decimated for their last stint as a junior partner in government – propping up Fianna Fáil and […]
Programme for Government rewards wealthiest with yet another tax cut
By Michael Taft. It is not the biggest issue in the Programme for Government. But sometimes small proposals can speak volumes. So what are we to make of the following commitment in the PfG? “The 3% USC [Universal Social Charge] surcharge applied to self-employed income is unfair and proposals will be […]