Commentary on Irish political economy by Michael Taft, Researcher for SIPTU
Dublin
Joined August 2009
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We could do the same thing here: abolish gas and electricity standing charges. This would bring a little relief to low-income groups.
John Healey to end standing charges on gas bills for 23m homes theguardian.com/money/2026/o…
Michael Taft retweeted
Brazil and Serbia -- fascists go down! Time for a few rounds youtube.com/watch?v=VwcKwGS7…
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Just 1 in 7 voters (14%) feel the budget lived up to the promise of a ‘worker’s budget’ and over half (53%) think axing the living wage was wrong.
@businessposthq / @REDCMD tracker poll
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Red C Poll: Majority disapprove of coalition’s cut to living wage timeline.
businesspost.ie/politics/red…
Michael Taft retweeted
This hysterical hyperbole doesn't help anyone.
Irish public spending is 40% of national income. In high-income Europe it is closer to 50%. And Ireland has one of the fastest-growing populations in Europe.
Some monster!
🔺David McWilliams: The Irish State has become a monstrously bloated organisation that has lost all sense of value for money
"Even from a cyclical perspective, a country at full employment does not need any more money thrown at it – the economy is already bursting at the seams – and yet this week’s Budget 2027 is throwing a net €7.4 billion extra into an already bloated system"
Read here: irishtimes.com/opinion/2026/…
Michael Taft retweeted
Government quietly dumping the living wage a day after their "worker's budget"
Michael Taft retweeted
The #Budget2027 online NERI Post Budget Analysis - 8 Oct at 15:30. Presentations by Michael Taft & Daniel Higgins @siptu & Susanne Rogers @socialjusticeI with @TomAMcDonnell1 as chairperson. Registration here - nerinstitute.net/events/2026… @notesonthefront
The Tánaiste claims his focus is on supporting people ‘who get up early and go to work’ – except for the low-paid and workers who get sick, or take the bus, or rent, or visit a GP, or have children. These early risers get left paying the high living costs: tinyurl.com/cz6rzxdn
The Tánaiste claims his focus is on supporting people ‘who get up early and go to work’ – except for the low-paid and workers who get sick, or take the bus, or rent, or visit a GP, or have children. These early risers get left paying the high living costs. tinyurl.com/cz6rzxdn
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Since 2001 the ten most profitable US corporations made $7 trillion in after-tax profit.
The 300 largest beneath them made $13.5 trillion combined. Ten made more than half as much as all the rest.
They also pay the lowest rate of tax. New blog post 👇
democracychallenged.com/2026…
Michael Taft retweeted
We are back at rate hikes to fight a supply shock. Will this stop the war against Iran? Will it reopen the Strait of Hormuz? Will higher financing costs help build out renewables?
No.
But it risks pushing livelihoods & democracies over the edge.
How are the top 1% doing? They earn more than 7 times the average-income worker. And this gap is growing. They take in even more capital income. We need structural policies that shift power in the economy away from the 1% and towards the rest of us: tinyurl.com/mws3v8hn
Michael Taft retweeted
Just in time for the latest oil price spike, we published our article urging the ECB not to hike rates to fight a supply shock. Europe needs a new inflation governance for shockflation. We need disaster preparedness for essentials instead of increasing investment costs.
Keeping the low-paid down. Despite profits and VAT cuts, employers still claim they can’t afford minimum wage increases. But rising revenues, generous subsidies, small business profitability: all the evidence shows they can well afford it tinyurl.com/ytfy74k2
Keeping the low-paid down. Despite profits and VAT cuts, employers still claim they can’t afford minimum wage increases. But rising revenues, generous subsidies, small business profitability: all the evidence shows they can well afford it. tinyurl.com/ytfy74k2
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Trump says polls showing his approval rating in Ireland at 20% are “fake.” There’s apparently a global pollster conspiracy against him!
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"They say you can't generalize about groups of people. But you can!" -- get a load of how Trump ranted and raved for half an hour like a total lunatic during his speech in Ireland. Totally incoherent, brain flitting from topic to topic
Throwing money into a supply-constrained market - it's as if the Government is determined to drive up house prices.
thejournal.ie/fianna-fail-th…
