Are we in the foothills of another Euro area crisis? Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sarah Carey joins us to discuss an election campaign that has finally caught fire. But not in the way that Fine Gael would like When will they realise the civil war is over? Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well-known political analyst, commentator and occasional comedian, Tull McAdoo, joins Chris to talk about the General Election. Will Ireland join the rest of the world and sweep out the incumbent government? Or is the economy doing so well that incumbency is actually a positive? We may have to wait until Easter for a government Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The world is changing. Rapidly. Have we noticed? Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Irish employment is still growing - at another all-time high. Not unrelatedly, house prices are also booming. UK farmers are protesting about inheritance taxation. What are the issues and do they have wider resonance? Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Budget 2025 has been derailed by Project 2025 - the radical agenda denied by Trump during his campaign (it really is so extreme even he had to disavow it). Notwithstanding the denials, Project 2025 is now being implemented. But few Irish or European politicians seem to have noticed. Latest EU Commission economic forecasts are pretty dire. The US is leaving the EU for dust. And a new gap has emerged: the EU North versus the Eu South Will the EU ever be an economically dynamic region again? Has...

Trump is impossible to forecast - so should we stop trying? Is talking about him merely enabling him? Colluding with him? There is a spiders-web of connections between Trump and Brexit. Farage, Le Pen and Orban have a new spring in their step. Brexiteers still hanker after a free trade deal with the US. They must confront the reality of a protectionist US President - and government. One way Trump could make mischief would be to implement his global tariffs but offer the UK an exemption. The...

The list of reasons why Trump won is getting longer. Some make sense, some do not. We look at the evidence-based ones. One very stark conclusion: not every Trump voter thinks all that positively about the President-elect. It's simply that they find the Democratic Party even more repulsive. The Trump trade is on. The stock market loves the prospect of trade wars, budget-busting tax cuts and mass deportations. Something doesn't add up. Incumbent governments everywhere are having a very hard...

Well, we said it was the year of election. Now we live with the consequences. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The fabulous US economy Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first UK budget ever delivered by a female Chancellor was presented with aplomb and panache. A pity the details didn’t match up to the presentation. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Germany is in economic trouble. Its car industry - 7% of the economy - is being squeezed by struggling exports (to China in particular) and a poorly handled transition to EVs. Add in problems that go back decades and maybe its time to become a Eurosceptic again. If Trump wins, the Democrats need to look in mirror. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Loads of men (mostly) say their favourite movie is The Godfather. Plenty also rate the Sopranos as the best TV series ever. Is that because they secretly (and not so secretly these days) would love to have a Mafiosi's unchecked power? Brexit is the most contemporary example of people saying the system doesn't work for them and then replacing it with something far worse. The US appears to be on the verge of making the same mistake. Unchecked power accompanied by extreme wealth turns people...

It's easy to conclude that we are a violent species. Just look at the state of the world. In a quite brilliant book, Professor Christopher Blattman argues that history books can give a misleading impression: on most days, war doesn't happen. Blattman has read everything. He has talked to the street gangs of Chicago and drug lords in Colombia. He summarises his vast knowledge with five main reasons why going to war - rathe than making peace - seems to happen. Armed (pardon the pun) with this...

Irish house prices are now well in excess of their pre-financial crisis peaks. Is the only thing that will get them down an old fashioned recession? More supply is certainly needed but it is far from clear that more houses equals lower prices - other things are not equal Why do we still bang on about a cost of living crisis when inflation has fallen towards zero? If not actually zero. May be the answer is really simple: in the US (and probably elsewhere) food and energy price inflation...

The arguments over the help needed for the domestic economy run and run Is Sinn Fein just a reunification party with a few half-hearted populist policies thrown in to get elected? Neither Chris nor Jim won the economics Nobel Prize. And much more! Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is the Irish inflation rate too low? All economists bar one or two say that the economy is over-heating. Could the opposite be true? Latest data certainly hints in that direction. Inflation disappoints, ever so slightly, in the US, where interest rate expectations have shifted again. The European interest rate outlook hasn't shifted at all - rates are coming down. Very soon. An important debate is to be had about whether or not pubs, restaurants and hotels need special treatment from the...

Is Keir Starmer up to the task? The early evidence suggests not? Are bankers worth it? Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Has the coalition blown it? Or does the outpouring of budget criticism from official Ireland miss the point: it's what the people wanted? Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will the electorate be grateful for budget 2025? Where was the long-term strategy and/or vision? So little for Irish businesses, particularly indigenous SMEs Tax base narrowed again Infrastructure mentioned loads of times with few details, let alone plans Not nearly enough focus on return on invetsment Will it work? In political terms at least. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

As we approach Budget 2025, we reflect on the usual leaked measures and suggest we are just children looking for the keys to the sweet shop. And yet so many of us say we want more houses, better health and high-quality schools. And then we elect politicians with a mandate to do none of those things. Is democracy structurally incapable of delivering much needed change? Or is just a system that delivers blocking coalitions to parliaments everywhere that prevent anything serious from happening?...

A prominent ex central banker has suggested that Ireland should spend the money: it's time, he says, for 'Jam today'. That's our interpretation, at least, of his only slightly coded remarks. Trumponomics: it's time to take them seriously, if not literally. Another Chinese economic stimulus: bazooka or pea-shooter? Your weekly reminder about the global nature of the housing crisis Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns. Hosted on Acast....

There is a building slowdown in global manufacturing that is starting to look serious. This is a Chinese problem that is fast becoming a major issue for Germany. That's one explanation for the rise of the right in Germany. The new UK government is beginning to look like a bewildered bunch of not very good middle managers Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The US central bank goes large and delivers a big interest rate cut. Thereby admitting it should have cut sooner. The Irish property market moves into double figure price inflation. And mortgage rates are only going to fall further Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-other-hand-with-jim.power-and-chris.johns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.