David McWilliams

Chevys, CIA and cops: the day Michelle came to lunch

David McWilliams — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 09:20:13 +0000

It was all a bit like waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve. As a boy, I remember nervously scanning the skies through the window for a sign, just a glimpse of the sleigh. My mother played along, ratcheting up the excitement by telling me she’d just heard on the radio that Santa had left Belfast [...]

The height of foolishness

David McWilliams — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 08:13:21 +0000

The only thing keeping Irish bond prices from collapsing is the assumption that Germany will eventually pay. The young woman in a burka is clutching a Fendi handbag in one hand and an iPhone 5 in the other. She is surrounded by five friends, who are also in burkas. They are hovering at the entrance [...]

Austerity isn’t working as France teeters

David McWilliams — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 07:52:48 +0000

Here’s something bold. Not only is the European economy not going to recover but a secondary depression is now on the cards. The putative European recovery has evaporated – as anyone with a grasp of Leaving Cert economics would have forecast a few years ago given the policy mix adopted. Not only is austerity not [...]

Desperately seeking a worldwide vision

David McWilliams — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 07:34:02 +0000

The most striking aspect of racing through the English countryside from London to Bristol is not the green and pleasant land of William Blake’s poetry, but the abundance of Tescos. After every 20 or so minutes of countryside, a massive out-of-town giant Tesco store announces each major train station. William Blake evoked the green pastoral [...]

No matter how you do, there is life after the Leaving Cert

David McWilliams — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 08:12:50 +0000

The little nine-year-old boy sat at the kitchen table in front of two computer screens. Open on the first one was ‘World of Warcraft’, which he was playing furiously. Open on the other was Skype where he was consulting with four of his young friends on what move to make next. These children were engaged [...]

Who should pay the price for the economic crisis?

David McWilliams — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 18:53:56 +0000

RTE’s most recent Prime Time looked at the cost of the economic crisis – and who should pay it. Myself and Tim Pat Coogan, among others, took part in an interesting discussion. Watch here

The twilight part-time world

eoincunningham — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 08:17:45 +0000

Freelancing. Being your own boss, having a portfolio career, living on your wits, independence, having no one to answer to – this all sounds good, doesn’t it? And it can be. The other side of this world is insecurity, worry, constant fretting about the next gig, undercutting everyone – starting with yourself – to get [...]

New baby boom means we’ve got to get our act together

David McWilliams — Thu, 30 May 2013 08:05:57 +0000

My children were born in Belfast. At the first pre-natal class, I was the only dad in the maternity ward in deepest east Belfast not in a Rangers tracksuit. Apart from that, the whole process was quite normal, apart from the “born-again” midwife whose obsession with “saved” people seemed a bit inappropriate when our daughter [...]

Our young hung out to dry

David McWilliams — Mon, 27 May 2013 08:15:35 +0000

Ireland is a country trying to compete with the rest of the world from a position of weakness and that weakness is, in the main, due to choices made by the state. We find ourselves in the most turbulent period of global economic disruption, without the macroeconomic means to deal with one local impediment that [...]

Breakfast with Hector: First Holy Communion Economics…

David McWilliams — Sat, 25 May 2013 08:57:11 +0000

For the day that’s in it: I popped in to chat with Hector this week about the crazy economic world of First Communions; we had a great chat. If you’re heading off to one of these yourself today, you might want to have a listen.