Cut the sandwiches

I went to a talk today by Colm McCarthy - the UCD economist who advised the Irish Government on how to tackle the current economic crisis. He's a smart guy, but what I appreciated the most was his down to earth, no spin delivery.

He made a very compelling comparison between the current economic situation, and that of Ireland in the 1980s. He also pointed out that welfare, healthcare and education accounted for almost three quarters of public expenditure, and that if you weren't willing to reduce spending in those areas then you would have no real impact. Or as he put it...if you don't cut those areas then all you can do is reduce your spending on tea and sandwiches.

I'm one of those screaming liberals that would always support public cuts in spending, as long as it didn't touch welfare, healthcare or education. But Colm's talk today really made me question myself. He obviously focused on the macro-economic approach, and when you get down to the micro level, education, welfare and healthcare are about sick people, schools and kids - all highly emotive subjects. I'm left wondering how to reconcile this intellectual belief in the macro-economics with my social views at the micro-level. For as Colm pointed out, a bounced cheque is no help at all.

Colm's talk was worrying, and I don't think anyone left the room feeling in high spirits, but I'm really glad that I attended, and feel infinitely better informed and even a little more prepared.

Ireland loses AAA status

Hot off the heals of the Times article on Ireland this weekend, S&P have reduced the rating of Ireland from AAA to AA+

I don't pretend to be a financial analyst, and this reduction has been widely predicted for a while, but I guess they may be in good company, with GE and Berkshire close behind!

Apologies

I foolishly thought that I'd get a chance to blog about my international rellocation. However, all of my time has been spent on the move, and I haven't had much chance to put virtual pen to paper. We'll be moving into our new house in Dalkey, Dublin this weekend, and our belongings should be turning up the week after. So hopefully I'll be able to draw breath and write something with a bit more substance soon.

Google, Ireland and Yoshi

Seattle is a wonderful place. It's been my home for the last four years, and what a four years! I've got married, had a son and made many great friends. But with the implending arrival of Yoshi in November (we've nick-named him/her Yoshi in honour of the Flaming Lips song, not the Nintendo character of Super Mario fame) we've made the decision to return to Europe to be closer to our family.

Never one to make things easy on myself, rather than move back to our home-land (UK) we're actually going to start afresh in a new country - Ireland. I've been offered a job with Google in Dublin, and we're all very excited to be moving to such a vibrant, friendly and, let's face it, funky place (Dublin and Google).

We'll be arriving in Dublin on the 4 July, and I'm sure that I'll make a post or two on the move.