Category: Economics

  • Amsterdam, London, New York, Shanghai?

    Did events in China set of this week’s sell off in global stock markets? I’m not competent to judge, but I am reminded of a comment by the great French historian Fernand Braudel, which perhaps clarifies what is at stake in the debate. Braudel’s remarks concern the 1773 financial crisis, which contemporaries believed started in…

  • Unified corporation tax ‘not optimal for regions of UK’

    I’ve just got hold of a copy of the new report on corporation tax by the Economic Research Institute of Northern Ireland. One key passage perhaps explains why the study has excited so much interest, not just in Northern Ireland, but also in Scotland.

  • McConnell joins corporation tax debate

    Slugger brings us news that Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell has stepped into the debate about Northern Ireland’s demand for a corporation tax cut

  • Tax cut ‘would slash Northern Ireland subvention’

    Wednesday’s Belfast Telegraph has some more details on the proposals for a tax cut for Northern Ireland. According to the chairman of the Industrial Task Force, Sir George Quigley, the move could reduce the Treasury’s subvention to the North by 40 per cent.

  • Northern Ireland businesses put forward tax cut plan

    Northern Ireland’s business leaders are not backing away from their demand for a corporation tax cut following the recent discussions with Gordon Brown over the issue, which made the front page of the FT today:

  • A double-edged deal in Dublin

    Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell issued a joint statement in Dublin yesterday, outlining plans for mutual co-operation. Mr McConnell said the two governments would seek €200 million from the EU cross-border programme due to begin in 2007. The meeting was partly aimed at convincing the Northern Ireland parties of the…

  • Fiscal Federalism and the Azores ruling

    The current state of play on Northern Ireland’s demand for a corporation tax cut seems to be that it cannot happen because of the European Court’s Azores ruling. However, there is an argument that the ruling actually protects the right of regional governments to set differential tax rates under certain circumstances. The court has upheld…

  • Brown meeting: no tax deal for Northern Ireland

    Predictably, there was no deal on corporation tax at Gordon Brown’s meeting with the Northern Ireland parties yesterday:

  • Observer: Brown to block Northern Ireland tax cut

    Nuzhound has picked up a couple of new stories on the Northern Ireland corporation tax issue. The most signifcant perhaps is this one from Henry McDonald: The threat of a Scottish rebellion has sunk plans for a massive cut in corporation tax in Northern Ireland as part of a deal aimed at restoring power-sharing.

  • All-island economy study launched

    Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain and Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern yesterday launched a new document on north-south co-operation called the Comprehensive Study on the All-Island Economy. The all-island approach seems to have the support of the north’s business community, if not that of the DUP and the Ulster Unionists. It seems to me that…