Irish Govt raises four-year austerity target to €15bn

[rory_20_uk]

They can't make a game AI work in a completely walled system, underpinning the capitalist world on then isn't going to be clever either.

[gaelic cowboy]

They can't make a game AI work in a completely walled system, underpinning the capitalist world on then isn't going to be clever either.

Excellant point

[Idaho]

Just for the lulz...

George Osborne wants us to be more like Ireland

[Furunculus]

What has caused this Irish miracle, and how can we in Britain emulate it? Three lessons stand out.

First, Ireland’s education system is world-class. On various different rankings it is placed either third or fourth in the world. By contrast, Britain is ranked 33rd and our poor education performance is repeatedly identified by organisations such as the OECD as our greatest weakness. It is not difficult to see why. Staying ahead in a global economy will mean staying at the cutting edge of technological innovation, and using that to boost our productivity. To do that you need the best-educated workforce possible. It is telling that even limited education reform is proving such a struggle for the Prime Minister.

Secondly, the Irish understand that staying ahead in innovation requires world class research and development. Using the best R&D, businesses can grow and make the most of the huge opportunities that exist in the world. That is why it is shocking that the level of R&D spending actually fell in Britain last year. Ireland’s intellectual property laws give incentives for companies to innovate, and the tax system gives huge incentives to turn R&D into the finished article. No tax is paid on revenue from intellectual property where the underlying R&D work was carried out in Ireland. While the Treasury here fiddles with its complex R&D tax credit system, I want to examine whether we could not adopt elements of Ireland's simple and effective approach.

Thirdly, in a world where cheap, rapid communication means that investment decisions are made on a global basis, capital will go wherever investment is most attractive. Ireland’s business tax rates are only 12.5 per cent, while Britain's are becoming among the highest in the developed world.

i can't see that he is wrong.........

[gaelic cowboy]

He was right in what he said it's just no one here copped how much we had moved on from that state around 2005/2006.

Basically in an effort to prevent the economy going from 7-8% growth to a more normal 2-3% a year Bertie and his mates allowed tax incentives and all sorts of chicanery in the banks to inflate a property bubble. Around 2002/2003 the real economy lets call it started to account for less as construction and consumption accounted for more and more.

Once started it was impossible to stop due to low interest rates and hubris on the part of the Irish people once on the carousel you cant get off till it crashes.

Basically were returning to about 2002/2003 levels of growth and consumption here and we will be the better for it.

[Idaho]

i can't see that he is wrong.........

I thought you were all in favour of reducing the number of people in education?

[Furunculus]

I thought you were all in favour of reducing the number of people in education?

Q1. When have I stated that i favour reducing the numbers employed by the education sector?
A1. I haven't. Don't put words in my mouth.

Q2. Since when was numbers employed in education the only/overwhelming metric involved in educational outcome?
A2. It isn't. Don't create foolish arguments.

[rory_20_uk]

Best educated workforce doesn't require everyone to have a degree. It might indicate that the workforce is well educated by 16 or 18, not lumping everyone through a system until they're 21.

It doesn't speak of numbers, it speaks of world class R&D - so that would be the best and brightest supported fully, not sending droves of drones to achieve no R&D.

[gaelic cowboy]

Best educated workforce doesn't require everyone to have a degree. It might indicate that the workforce is well educated by 16 or 18, not lumping everyone through a system until they're 21.

It doesn't speak of numbers, it speaks of world class R&D - so that would be the best and brightest supported fully, not sending droves of drones to achieve no R&D.

Osbourne was talking about this really

Ireland’s intellectual property laws give incentives for companies to innovate, and the tax system gives huge incentives to turn R&D into the finished article. No tax is paid on revenue from intellectual property where the underlying R&D work was carried out in Ireland.