Business and Finance News
Ireland’s national income per head at 56% of Great Britain’s in 1922
The Government of Ireland Act which was passed by the British Parliament in 1920 provided for devolved parliaments in Dublin and Belfast, with the latter in control of 6 counties in the north-east of the island to be known as Northern Ireland. The Irish Free State was established in 1922 with jurisdiction over the remaining 26 counties and faced challenging economic conditions with national income per head at 56% of Great Britain’s — 35 years later the ratio was at 49%.
Germany says no new borrowing by 2020, interest bill plunges
The German government on Wednesday approved a draft budget for 2017 to 2020 and despite the arrival of over 1m refugees and migrants last year, budget surpluses are forecast for every year while €31bn in higher spending is provided for immigration services, security and infrastructure without having to borrow more money in the 3 years to 2020.
Brexit would trigger prolonged uncertainty, EU import tariffs
A decision for the UK to exit the European Union (‘Brexit’) would result in prolonged uncertainty and would be credit negative for UK-based companies such as the car, manufacturing, food and beverage, and service sectors, Moody’s Investors Service said…
High-tech sectors not big job creators in Europe and US
Despite the obsession of politicians and journalists with high-tech sectors, they are not big job creators in economies. A multiplier is evident where there is a concentration and while Uber, the taxi service termed a high-tech “unicorn,” had a valuati…
Apple, Google’s economy with truth on tax at European Parliament
In 1986 Sir Robert Armstrong, UK Cabinet Secretary, used a euphemism for lying that had its origin in 1796 — “economical with the truth” — during a court case in Australia on the British government’s request for a ban on a book by a former spy. Representatives of Apple and Google, at a meeting of a tax committee of the European Parliament in Brussels Tuesday, made emphatic statements about paying taxes but they were short of the full truth.
Trump laments Pfizer’s move to Ireland; Warns Apple on China
Donald Trump, the Republican Party frontrunner for the nomination for the US presidency, on Tuesday night in a victory speech, criticised the planned move by Pfizer, the US drugs giant to become an Irish company, and he also promised that if he becomes…
London 6th most expensive city, Dublin at 24 and Brussels at 38
Singapore is the world’s most expensive city for expatriates and travellers for the third year running. The Asian city island state tops Zurich and Hong Kong in the latest rankings by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), which surveys 400 individual prices across 160 products and services, and then compares all places with New York — the base city. London is the 6th most expensive city, Dublin is at 24 and Brussels, the capital of the European Union is at 38.
US FDI stock in Ireland doubled since 2007, 11,000 jobs added
US data show that the value of the outstanding stock of US FDI (foreign direct investment) more than doubled in the period 2007-2014 but Irish data show that only 11,000 jobs were added in American-owned firms in the period 2007-2015.
Superlative 2015 Irish growth data massively distorted by tax moves
Irish gross domestic product grew by a stunning 9.2% year-on-year in the final quarter of last year, outranking India at 7.3% and China at 6.8%. GDP was 7.8% higher compared to 5.2% growth in 2014 while GNP (gross national product) was up 5.7%. The GDP…
US Tax Reform Failure- Warns EU with never-used 82-year-old law
It is almost 30 years since President Ronald Reagan signed a major US tax reform bill into law and since the late 1990s in particular, the corporate tax system has been massively abused by large American multinational firms. From early 2009, President …