It’s been a heavy period of economic news. In Ireland, corporate tax receipts fell by 30 per cent in May, amounting to a loss of €1.1 billion on the same month last year, according to latest data from the Department of Finance, which pointed to “once-off factors” that had boosted receipts last year and distorted the year-on-year comparison. Eoin Burke-Kennedy looked at the latest numbers which say much about our economy.
And speaking of the economy, it grew by an eye-watering 10 per cent in the first quarter. Eoin Burke-Kennedy again analyses the data and makes the link with US tariffs.
On a more individual level, the third piece of heavyweight economic news was the ECB’s eighth rate cut in the last 12 months. Conor Pope explains that, give or take, this equates to a €13 per month saving for every €100,000 owed on a tracker mortgage.
US government debt is now 120 per cent of its GDP, about what it was in 1945. In the OECD, only the Greek, Italian, and Japanese governments are more indebted. So what effect might Trump’s economic policies have? In his column, John FitzGerald looks at some studies which explain the deleterious effects of tariffs may be greater to the US economy than to Europe. Could borrowing problems, given the size of its debt ratio, cause the US economic problems of Liz Truss-sized proportions, or will sanity prevail?
DAA, which runs Dublin Airport, has suggested forthcoming legislation may finally put paid to its passenger cap which at 32 million per year is extremely limited based on current demand. But then legal twists and turns mean it currently isn’t even enforced, a piece of toothless regulation DAA chief executive Kenny Jacobs quipped was a “zombie cap” at a press briefing attended by Barry O’Halloran.
A former employee at the Keelings fruit and vegetable group was fired after they found he had brought the company into disrepute with “false” posts on social media claiming excessive night work hours contributed to the deaths of two of his colleagues in 2013. The case is before the Workplace Relations Commission.
The High Court has ordered a Co Wexford wind farm to shut down half of its six turbines and pay €360,000 in damages to a couple. Mary Carolan has details on the case in which the defendants were said to have failed to engage “in any meaningful way” with the “genuine and substantive” complaints made by the couple over a 12 year period.
Denis Staunton took a look at the official Chinese summary of the phone call between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, their first direct conversation since the beginning of the year. Xi requested a bit of mutual respect and told his American counterpart he should dispense with the “negative measures” on trade. What it all means for the ebb and flow of US policy the world over is, as usual, unclear.
TikTok has secured a court stay on a move by the Data Protection Commission to prevent the social media giant transferring data to China. Mr Justice Mark Sanfey said the stay would be in place until early October when the court will hear an application by TikTok seeking a longer stay, and until a full challenge to the direction can ultimately be dealt with.
Bank of Ireland will be hoping for some final clarity when the UK’s financial watchdog decides on whether to launch a compensation scheme for mis-sold car loans. The Irish bank has a 2 per cent share of the UK motor finance market. To date, as reported by Joe Brennan, it has set aside a provision of £143 million (€172 million) for a potential compensation scheme. Many analysts say the bill could rise.
If you’d like to read more about the issues that affect your finances try signing up to On the Money, the weekly newsletter from our personal finance team, which will be issued every Friday to Irish Times subscribers.
