Business Chit Chat thread

Gloomtastic!

Writing’s been on the wall since the outbreak of COVID but David McWilliams is finally calling it……

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2023/10/07/irelands-commercial-property-market-is-on-the-cusp-of-monumental-collapse/

onedmc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121204175#Comment_121204175

Is this the same article he wrote on his website back last January?

Gloomtastic!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121230912#Comment_121230912

Shure they’ll never notish. 😂

scottygee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121109598#Comment_121109598

Cool, thanks for sharing, I will check it out. I am still digging around and reading the news on this topic, I guess most people are. 

bikermartin

KFC's business moves are always interesting. I've heard they're testing new formats and delivery strategies in different locations. Omni and Clarehall might be part of that experiment.

Gloomtastic!

The significance of the ruling by The Supreme Court between Revenue and Dominoes Pizza about contractors and whether they are employees or not may affect many here, myself included.

Here’s Revenue’s point of view (as clear as mud, as per usual)……

https://www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/press-office/press-releases/2023/pr-102723-update-v-domino.aspx

Prior to the emergence of the ‘gig’ economy, one of the rules on whether you are self-employed or employed was relatively simple - as long as you had three or more paying clients in any given tax year you could classify yourself as self-employed.

Others, like whether the employer or the contractor supplies the equipment necessary to carry out the work may also be relevant.

Gloomtastic!

The funeral of Eddie O’Connor, the Irish energy entrepreneur, takes place today.

The Currency have been running several articles this week outlining what he achieved in business and how official Ireland thwarted his ambitions to the detriment of this country.

Here’s the last few paras from the lead article today from Stephen Kinsella, their Economics guy…….

The foundation of national prosperity for Ireland

Offshore wind is Ithe foundation for national prosperity for this country. It really is that simple, but it takes time to get your head around it all. It took me quite a while, at least. It’s the sheer scale of it. For example, the total span of a single set of blades on a 16MW rig is four times the area of Croke Park, and we need multiples of those built off the west coast. 

The physics of the energy generation from the west of Ireland and the engineering of the transmission problem across Ireland and out to Europe are pretty well known. What is not known is how, precisely, to get it all done. 

The prize is tantalising. Even if 90 per cent of the claims made by offshore wind’s proponents were the purest bullshit dreamt up by fervent liars and the kind of snake oil salesmen who can’t lie straight in bed, the economic opportunity is still worth bending our policy system to achieve it.

We don’t yet even have a coherent offshore planning system, never mind institutions aimed at developing an installed manufacturing base for the huge blades or a robust R&D capacity to improve these platforms over time. 

O’Connor wanted “an IDA for offshore wind”. His ideas not only state the problem but give the solutions. Grant planning. Install turbine and blade manufacturing facilities close to ports like Foynes, and think very big indeed. Dedicate research infrastructure to the problem. Get moving and make lots of money available along the way to resource it all. 

The ambition is lacking. Where is the government entity driving deployment of wind energy? Where is the institute dedicated to the study of wind energy? UCC has Marei, a Science Foundation Ireland-funded centre that has the study of wind energy as part of its remit, but even Marei with 200 affiliated researchers is subscale and lacking focus.

Perhaps the biggest single datapoint to show the lack of seriousness is the average price of a house in Foynes. Were there serious interest in making offshore wind a reality, the price of land would explode there. According to the property price register, it is not exactly gold rush season there. 

We should not lose heart just because something hasn’t happened yet. It means the opportunity still exists for individuals, for companies and for the state. O’Connor showed us the way, we just have to have the ambition to walk it and we’re sorted.

RIP Eddie 

Hawkeye123

Well, when it comes to doing business, there is nothing like a bit of competition and what better way to compete than to avoid using a monopoly. Are there any alternatives to the Swift payments system in the west and are it's competitor payment systems in Russia, China, India and other BRICS+ countries better/cheaper etc? Wouldn't it be nice if we had access to these alternatives? Just for choice? Competition brings down costs and that is always a good thing.

Gloomtastic!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121637296#Comment_121637296

Ok, you’ve posted about this a couple of times now. Do you have an answer?

Hawkeye123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121637423#Comment_121637423

I think competition is a good thing so yes, I am all in favour of banks that offer alternatives. Especially non western alternatives. If they are legal, why not? If they are not legal, that is just another reason to vote for the so called far right.

Gloomtastic!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120711938#Comment_120711938

This could also replace SWIFT. Small world. 😋

KylaDecker

KFC is really going through changes. The cessation of operations at Omni Shopping Center and Clarehall could be part of a strategy to review its location allocation. I think the owners decided to focus on more profitable or centralized locations. There are ideas that this could be a result of economic factors or part of their strategic plan. I think it's worth paying attention to their next steps to understand what changes are happening in KFC's business.

Gloomtastic!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122064429#Comment_122064429

Hello Mr AI. Any other posts here you’d like to comment on?