Here’s an ‘epic’ idea to unlock Cork’s potentialWe must stimulate the creation of urban centres of excellence exuding quality of life as counterweights to the capitalSat Sept 28 2024 - 06:00
Ireland is ‘dangerously lopsided’. Galway and Limerick are essential to its futureThe likely unification of Ireland will mean a greater economic role for the west but we need to plan for development like the Dutch have doneSat Sept 21 2024 - 06:00
David McWilliams: Ireland should have Apple houses as well as Guinness homesIreland is a country with first-world income but third-world infrastructure. We have the opportunity to rectify this. Our problem is not a lack of cash, it’s a lack of courageSat Sept 14 2024 - 06:00
Just think what might have happened if Hitler’s money had fallen from the heavens in 1943In this edited extract from his new book, Irish Times columnist David McWilliams explains that the story of money is the story of humanity itselfSat Sept 07 2024 - 06:00
Ireland should not be blocking data centres, we need more of themWe need to find a win-win solution based on engineering which is far more ingenious than a simple black and white, yes or no to data centresSat Aug 31 2024 - 06:00
David McWilliams: Leave things as they are, and Ireland’s economy will stumble and fall in the years aheadPost-election, the new government must sweep away any impediments constraining development. Land must be made available to build on, and builders must be encouraged to buildSat Aug 24 2024 - 06:00
David McWilliams: We get electronics and cars from China, so why not let them build our trainlines?The Italians have proved to be the most efficient and cost-effective builders on infrastructure in Europe. Why do we lag so far behind?Sat Aug 17 2024 - 06:00
After 30 years of relative success, is Dublin city going backwards again?Our capital is no exception to the rule that cities are fragile ecosystems that can go into decline rapidlySat Aug 10 2024 - 06:00
Today’s children could be worse-off than their parentsAmid global turmoil, the standard patterns of social mobility are shifting. Career choices are being recalibrated as financial and other rewards rise and fallSat Aug 03 2024 - 06:00
Inheritance is not just a family affair – it’s a critical societal issueDespite wealth inequality, when it comes to social uplift, the past few decades in Ireland have been truly remarkableSat Jul 27 2024 - 06:00
So we’re going to have a 7m population. I’ve got a planThe huge productivity gap between the local and foreign business sectors must be bridged by creating a closed-circuit economySat Jul 20 2024 - 06:00
Ireland has an almost embarrassing abundance of revenue compared with the UK’s budgetary problems The problems of Ireland are ones the new UK Labour administration would love: too much money, large tax surpluses and politicians choosing where to spendSat Jul 13 2024 - 06:00
Many ‘real jobs’ of the past are extinct, replaced with roles nobody could have imaginedFathers and mothers of many of today’s Irish adults have no idea what their 20-something children are going to do for a livingSat Jul 06 2024 - 06:00
Aer Lingus pilots are unlikely revolution leaders but wages will have to rise for social peaceDavid McWilliams: We may be entering a new world of industrial turmoil after years of relative peaceSat Jun 29 2024 - 06:00
Fundamental differences over economics may damage EU-wide right-wing allianceEconomics, although important, tend to be trumped by cultureSat Jun 22 2024 - 06:00
David McWilliams: France is politically goosed if Macron’s big gamble on a snap election failsLe Pen could repeat her EU election performance in two weeks’ time, leaving French politics in gridlock. There could be consequences for IrelandSat Jun 15 2024 - 06:00
Ireland has a bigger welfare state than almost anywhere in the worldThe biggest opponents of neoliberalism are also, inexplicably, the biggest opponents of a wealth tax on land and propertySat Jun 08 2024 - 06:00
Populists have the environmental movement in their sights There is emerging alliance in Europe of farmers and new right-wingers against environmental movementSat Jun 01 2024 - 06:00
David McWilliams: One place where Britain remains truly a global player is the empire of the Premier LeagueOne place where Britain remains truly a global player is the empire of footballSat May 18 2024 - 06:00
Apocalyptic scenes could await us if opioid pandemic hits amid housing crisisThe economics of opioids is fairly straightforward and if they flood into Ireland in the same volumes as seen in North America, God help usSat May 11 2024 - 06:00
In today’s Ireland, the rich live in houses that were built for the poorIn Ireland today, the only people who can live in houses originally built for poor labourers are rich people and, in some cases, really rich peopleSat May 04 2024 - 06:00
David McWilliams: A small town in Co Kerry and a formula for rejuvenating rural IrelandA town is a highly sensitive ecosystem of shops, bars, cafes, restaurants, residents, local leaders, workers, professionals, schools, churches, sports clubs – something we call communitySat Apr 27 2024 - 06:00
One sector of Ireland endures housing as a crippling monthly cost while another enjoys it as an appreciating assetWhen it comes to housing, the world of Bertie Ahern compared with that of Simon Harris are radically differentSat Apr 20 2024 - 06:00
America and China are pursuing a type of industrial cold warDavid McWilliams: Travails of Musk and Tesla tell us something far bigger than the story of an evangelical entrepreneurSat Apr 13 2024 - 00:00
David McWilliams: A successful, prosperous Gaza is possible. Here is a modelDespite the devastation, the cost of rebuilding Gaza would be a drop in the ocean for EuropeSat Apr 06 2024 - 06:00
An entitled minority are giving two fingers to the rest in Ireland’s housing crisisNimbyism is blocking homes being built. It has to stopSat Mar 30 2024 - 06:00
David McWilliams: Ireland needs a dose of ‘Protestant pragmatism’, where power is delegated to the peopleThe biggest challenge facing Ireland in the decades ahead will be the North. We can learn lessons from the SwissSat Mar 23 2024 - 06:00
David McWilliams: Inheritance makes inequality permanent and favours children of the richDavid McWilliams: Political centre must offer something to those who cherish liberal values, openness, tolerance and decencySat Mar 16 2024 - 06:00
Bitcoin’s real value is based on the greater fool theoryAnyone with a sense of financial history knows how the fever for the cryptocurrency will end. And it’s not prettySat Mar 09 2024 - 06:00
We are witnessing the death throes of RTÉ. I say this with a heavy heartSpend some time with younger people and the evidence of dopamine culture is everywhereSat Mar 02 2024 - 06:00
Is it any wonder that Ireland’s public transport is among the worst in Europe? David McWilliams: Ireland’s hyper-local political system will always impede rather than advance national developmentSat Feb 24 2024 - 06:00
Ireland needs to be more like Ryanair and less like Irish RailDavid McWilliams: Irish people in some sectors are playing at the top of their game. In other areas, we can’t even get the basics rightSat Feb 17 2024 - 06:00
Climate change is a threat. Fanaticism is a bigger oneDavid McWilliams: for years, economic historians looked at the wars of the 17th century through the lens of statehood, conquest and religious fervour. But there is a different story told by climatologistsSat Feb 10 2024 - 06:00
David McWilliams: We are only at the end of the beginning of BrexitMy Northern Irish family, some of whom work in the NHS, say things have never been so badSat Feb 03 2024 - 06:00
David McWilliams: What are the taxpayers getting for public sector pay rises?If we are paying the public sector more without increases in the quality or provision of services, what is happening?Sat Jan 27 2024 - 06:00
David McWilliams: In Dún Laoghaire, a battle for the heart and soul of the town is ongoing over carsThe south county Dublin town was built to be lived in, not to be used as a rat run into Dublin by motoristsSat Jan 20 2024 - 06:00
David McWilliams: Ireland will not have any political peace until we fix housingAccommodating a rapidly-rising population requires emergency or crisis thinking. It is easy if you have a home to be inured to the severity of this national challengeSat Jan 13 2024 - 06:00
Without one O’Connell School pupil, there would be no Hollywood - and nobody to tell America’s story David McWilliams: The Los Angeles streets paved with gold are also the famous boulevards of broken dreams. This economic battle for survival gives LA both its harshness and its excitementSat Jan 06 2024 - 06:00
AI will be of most benefit to educated countries like IrelandGutenberg’s printing press transformed the world and those who were better educated to begin with enjoyed the greatest benefits; AI’s transformative power is far greaterSat Dec 16 2023 - 06:00
Ireland is a rich country that feels poorSpend now and worry about overheating later. The stakes are too high for the economics of the 1980s to imperil our 21st century societySat Dec 09 2023 - 06:00
Ireland’s problem is not money, it is management. Let’s fix the managementLet’s talk about a new Republic, the Second RepublicSat Dec 02 2023 - 06:00
The next president of Argentina will upend all your prejudices about dull economists David McWilliams: The right has become left, and the left has become the right. Such blurring will continueSat Nov 25 2023 - 06:00
What will happen when the middle class get hit by ChatGPT? ChatGPT's inexorable rise: Typically late to the party, I tried out the AI tool for the first time this weekSat Nov 18 2023 - 06:00
What connects Sam Bankman-Fried to Dublin’s office market?WeWork’s bankruptcy, the jailing of Sam Bankman-Fried and the collapse of the NFT market are all inevitable, investor-ruining consequences of an extended period of ultra-low ratesSat Nov 11 2023 - 06:00
The Irish street is pro-Palestinian, but it is paved with American moneyIsrael-Palestine conflict has long seen both sides seeking to internationalise their local land warSat Nov 04 2023 - 06:00
Icelandic women went on strike this week. Irish women should follow suitDavid McWilliams: Irish woman still take home less pay than men and this is despite the fact that Irish women are better educated than Irish menSat Oct 28 2023 - 06:00
Why not move Dublin Port now, rather than later, while we have lots of money and a housing crisis?If you are saying, ‘Oh here he goes again with his “move the port” idea’, fair enough. But years ago I was accused of writing too frequently about a coming property crashSat Oct 21 2023 - 06:00
‘You couldn’t make it up’: David McWilliams gives his verdict on Budget 2024Housing is the biggest problem facing the State, and this Government’s budget interventions are contradictory and short-sightedSat Oct 14 2023 - 06:00
Ireland’s commercial property market is on the cusp of monumental collapseDon’t take my word for it, look at what the property insiders are saying. It’s carnage out thereSat Oct 07 2023 - 06:00
If we’re not careful, Irish cities risk becoming Detroit which was ceded to dereliction and vandalismWe know that in economics positive incentives work, and extreme positive incentives work even better. The authorities could make it impossible for owners not to renovate their derelict buildingsSat Sept 30 2023 - 06:09
