Great to join discussion earlier on productivity here in Toronto. Housing minister on stage now talking about the country’s housing crisis. Discussion almost identity to Ireland’s.

Excellent thread on European economic performance, and comparisons with the US in recent years.

Put another way: the banking/property crash blew the roof off the Irish economy. It was bad. Loss of the multinational base would blow the foundations out and collapse the entire edifice. We would return to being the poorest in north west Europe, as was the case up to the 1990s.

If Ireland suffers major attacks on vital infrastructure, it will suffer permanent damage as a location to do business. Given that multinationals are far more important than the banks for prosperity, the consequences could be worse and longer lasting than the banking crash.

Forget the abysmal PMIs, German industrial production posted a large broad-based rise in Feb for the second month in a row, including in energy-intensive chemicals. Lower energy prices, better demand outlook, and a turn in the inventory cycle appear to be finally feeding through.

Yesterday's Ireland Thinks poll found 2% worried about Russia's war.

Politicians need to focus less on conflicts in other regions and get serious about national security.

Starkness of our region's predicament illustrated here by 3 EU foreign ministers
politico.eu/article/german…

This morning's numbers on jobless benefit recipients for March suggest that the economy continues to motor along, and that more and more Ukrainians who arrived after the invasion are moving from welfare to work.

It might be that the sudden collapse of Sir Jeffrey Donaldson somehow kickstarts this realignment, but still there are huge obstacles to it. My column first printed yesterday in the weekend print edition newsletter.co.uk/news/opinion/c…

Some (understandable) head scratching about this tweet, from those not listening to yesterday's RTE radio's lunchtime news programme. It spent half the show covering road accidents and left the seismic events in NI to the very end, and then covered them perfunctorily.

The Republic has one of the lowest rates of road fatalities in the world.
Northern Ireland is one of the politically fragile regions in Europe, and it has undergone an earthquake in the past 24 hours.
Is the south remotely ready for reunification?

In rich, culturally liberal societies, women are neither economically nor socially pressured to marry & have kids.

The decline of shame & stigma means everyone is free to pursue their own wants.

And be childless/ childfree

The great John Burn-Murdoch 👇

ft.com/content/838eeb…

Many thanks to Claus for joining us to discuss some astonishing trends in global demographics which will increasingly affect us all.

Baby busts are not just happening in rich, secular societies. Poorer, socially conservative societies are experiencing the phenomenon too. Women in countries such as Bangladesh, India and Türkiye are now having fewer than 2.1 kids (the replacement rate).

Europeans are weighing the implications of Trump II. For Ireland it is a Brexit-scale risk given the 10% tariff he has proposed and the fact that US exports relative to the size of the Irish economy/population are by far the highest in Europe (and third high in absolute terms).

Clear and concise clarifying statement from Central Statistics Office Ireland on the share of young people living with their parents in Ireland.

cso.ie/en/releasesand…

We invite threats to 🇪🇺 by remaining completely vulnerable here in 🇮🇪

Any aggressor attempting to physically harm 🇮🇪/🇪🇺, can do so without crossing NATO borders/territory

Simply navigating international seas/airspace allows reach to the softest target & one of least resistance

A key fact about the teen mental illness epidemic is that the same thing happened in so many countries at the same time, 2010-2015. Here, clinical psychologist Nick Haslam shows what happened in Australia to create its own anxious generation:

insidestory.org.au/virtual-anxiet…

.Jonathan Haidt mentioned re kids and phones on Brendan O’Connor. His work is essential for all parents. I’m no nanny stater, but curbing children’s phone use is essential.

'Ireland's healthcare system is terrible' is an almost universally held view. Comparative health outcomes simply don't support it. EG infant mortality is lower than neighbours and much better than UK's NHS, which Ireland is unwisely moving to emulate (slaintecare).

Today's Central Statistics Office Ireland stats show deaths in Ireland above the pre-pandemic trend. Interested in expert views on this. (Not interested in views of anonymous accounts).