My favourite UK "compare and contrast" is with what the Norway Government has done with their North Sea oil and gas revenues.
Finding out what Norway did with its revenues is a relatively straight forward task. Just Google, "What did Norway do with its oil and gas revenues?".
At the top of the list is, "Government revenues from petroleum activities are transferred to the Government Pension Fund Global, which at the end of 2023 had holdings with a total value of around NOK 15 800 billion."
A quick reference to Oanda indicates that it amounts to about £1,133,454,080,000.00.
Now Google, "What did the UK do with its oil and gas revenues?"
Ireland's budget surplus is largely down to huge tax take from 6 tech companies who could relocate tomorrow. In many respects it is a two tier economy -- a booming international tech sector and a domestic economy that is ticking along nicely but not massively (and is dependent upon that international tech sector). But there are so many problems: a massive shortage of Houses, a Health service that is far worse than the NHS crisis, Teachers and Health professionals in particular unable to afford to live in or near Dublin, the Defence forces rely on a secret agreement with the RAF to provide air cover, a flotilla of fishing boats scared off Russian naval manoeuvres within our seas.
Hi Ian, I'd be inclined to say worse in many respects. Yes, we've spare cash and we're not going to go wild like in the tiger times but there's an awful lot wrong. Quality of life here in Ireland for those who are comfortable is far superior. The first thing they purchase is private health insurance (me included).
In many respects, most economies have been going awry since they began to run budget deficits -- the super rich convinced them to shift from taxing the wealthy to borrowing money from the wealthy to fund growth.
The very phrase “super rich” generates so many reactions, none of them pretty, several verging on the violent! When they “persuade” governments on anything we kiss democracy goodbye
My favourite UK "compare and contrast" is with what the Norway Government has done with their North Sea oil and gas revenues.
Finding out what Norway did with its revenues is a relatively straight forward task. Just Google, "What did Norway do with its oil and gas revenues?".
At the top of the list is, "Government revenues from petroleum activities are transferred to the Government Pension Fund Global, which at the end of 2023 had holdings with a total value of around NOK 15 800 billion."
A quick reference to Oanda indicates that it amounts to about £1,133,454,080,000.00.
Now Google, "What did the UK do with its oil and gas revenues?"
Jonty: as a thought experiment …. Had the Uk remained in the EU post 2016, would the Truss/Kwarteng mini-budget frolic been possible?
And an additional query, would the Truss “frolic” (!) have been possible if we’d been in the euro?
Ireland's budget surplus is largely down to huge tax take from 6 tech companies who could relocate tomorrow. In many respects it is a two tier economy -- a booming international tech sector and a domestic economy that is ticking along nicely but not massively (and is dependent upon that international tech sector). But there are so many problems: a massive shortage of Houses, a Health service that is far worse than the NHS crisis, Teachers and Health professionals in particular unable to afford to live in or near Dublin, the Defence forces rely on a secret agreement with the RAF to provide air cover, a flotilla of fishing boats scared off Russian naval manoeuvres within our seas.
https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/spotlight/arid-41462536.html
Add to that anti-immigrant attitudes that were non-existent only 5 years ago.
So - not all that different from us, apart from the tech cos and the huge budget surplus …
Hi Ian, I'd be inclined to say worse in many respects. Yes, we've spare cash and we're not going to go wild like in the tiger times but there's an awful lot wrong. Quality of life here in Ireland for those who are comfortable is far superior. The first thing they purchase is private health insurance (me included).
In many respects, most economies have been going awry since they began to run budget deficits -- the super rich convinced them to shift from taxing the wealthy to borrowing money from the wealthy to fund growth.
The very phrase “super rich” generates so many reactions, none of them pretty, several verging on the violent! When they “persuade” governments on anything we kiss democracy goodbye