So.. what exactly is the state of the nation?

Eugene Norman

There are a few storm clouds ahead, not least of which is potential increases in interest rates. Until then - be grand.

Public_Enema

Señor Fancy Pants wrote: »

Get back to work Enda!

He wouldn't know work if it kicked him in his spineless back.

RomanKnows

Eugene Norman wrote: »

There are a few storm clouds ahead, not least of which is potential increases in interest rates. Until then - be grand.

Fully agree. The lack of affordable housing is going to be a real issue for the next Government - looking like a FG/FF government, possibly FG/Labour/Independents if the private FG opinion polls ring true at the ballot box.

Do they interfere in the market and introduce rent control? Or let the whole thing off again? Stop An Taisce from not allowing high-rise in the docklands area?

The economy is booming again. It's where to put all the people in decent accommodation is the problem that needs to be solved.

questionmark?

As someone who now lives across the water I can diffo say there has been a big improvement since I left a few years ago. I head back a good few times a year and each time you notice the simple things like more traffic on the road in rush hour, more people in the pub, people actually carrying bags after a days shopping. It has been slow and painful but the country is on the way up despite what sinn fein and the AAA would have you believe. Its not perfect and there is a long way to go yet. Housing is an issue in the greater Dublin area and more jobs need to feed down to rural Ireland. I had high hopes for this government, I lost hope with them for a while but now see that the painful decisions are starting to work.

TomBtheGoat

questionmark? wrote: »

you notice the simple things like more traffic on the road in rush hour

Funnily enough, I found the traffic busier the ever when the recession started and my journey time to work steadily increased for several years. Perhaps the roads were full of traveling burglars, but traffic on my route got heavier and that was the last thing I expected.

KomradeBishop

QE and the devaluation of the Euro, plus debt available at record-low interest rates, means we're doing well for now - but the devaluation from QE is a 'beggar thy neighbour' type policy which will only benefit us until other regions devalue against us (removing the benefit we gain from devaluation), and over time QE has diminishing returns.

For instance, the US have undergone QE for years to stave off deflation, but now the US is slipping into deflation again, which shows that QE doesn't work in the long run - it's just a stopgap measure.
We'll follow suit as well, heading into deflation, and likely much sooner than it took the US as well - may start seeing disinflation around the end of next year.

BuilderPlumber

It is mixed. Depending on where one is often. Cities and bigger towns are doing well but rural areas not so much.

Thankfully, a lot of the negative drivel is off our screens too. Remember 2010 or 2011 and you had all this The Frontline, etc. spouting negativity all the time.