Asking the Right Questions
Interview Series: with Blackrock’s Adam Ryan
My latest endeavour to make the subject of financial markets and the economy more accessible to everyone is an interview series where I am intend to interview a range of fund managers, investment strategists and government officials, and to share these insights with you….
Retirement in the US looks good for the few
Last week, the Institute for Policy Studies in the US released an interesting report entitled “A Tale of Two Retirements”. The report looks at retirement assets in the United States, highlighting some thought provoking facts about the lack of pension provision across the population,…
Canadians cast their vote in Federal Election…..
Canada is the latest country to hold elections, with Canadians casting their vote on Monday in the Federal election. After just returning from a trip to Toronto, it was impossible to escape the media coverage. Aside from the excitement of the Toronto Blue Jays…
Irish Government: Macro Improvement Clouded by Micro Failings
This is my article which featured in the Sunday Independent, August 23rd 2015: http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/this-government-has-worked-yet-voters-want-to-get-rid-of-it-31470178.html I give my take on the current government, how the much improved macroeconomic picture has been overshadowed by some of their failings at a micro level. Of course I end…
Banking Inquiry and the Celtic Tiger Villain
Two well-known villains were back in the media last week, making headlines for different reasons. Lance Armstrong was in France to ride the Tour de France route as part of a charity race to raise money for leukemia research, while at home in Ireland,…
Greek crisis talks, adults needed!
Global equity markets struggled to gain momentum last week as Greece continued to dominate the headlines, with the Greek banking system now on emergency life support from the ECB. There was no progress made at the Eurogroup meeting of finance ministers on Thursday, as…
World Bank Group cuts 2015 global GDP growth
On the economic front, the World Bank Group released their latest Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report, confirming “a fourth consecutive year of disappointing economic growth this year”. They had forecasted in January that global GDP growth would rise moderately to 3% in 2015, but…
Market Recap: Week of May 18th 2015
Market Recap Global equities were mixed last week after a raft of weaker than expected economic reports across the US, China and the Eurozone.
The obesity crisis: we’re all paying for it!
The World Health Organisation released a report last week warning that Ireland is moving up to the top of the obesity table; on current trends we’re being told that most Irish adults will be overweight by 2030. The statistics don’t lie. Look around, we’re…
Market Recap: Week of May 4th 2015
Market Recap: stronger Euro hurts European equities Most of the major equity indices were in the red last week, following weaker than expected economic data, most notably weak first quarter GDP data from the US and the UK.
