This module aims to provide students with an understanding of the Irish economy and public policy-making; show how various pressures and policies have shaped the development of the Irish economy; economically interpret and evaluate public policy making in Ireland and elsewhere; and, facilitate the use of clear and concise English that is required for understanding economics and policy-making.

Module outline

The issue of market provision and/or state provision provides a central and recurring theme in this module (and in ECU22022). Within each policy area covered, the module investigates market failure and government failure, via for example consideration of externalities, informational problems and an examination of the public choice perspective with respect to possible government failure. Specific topics to be covered include but are not limited to a subset of the following: resource allocation (regulated markets and/or state); taxation; distribution, inequality and poverty; economic growth, employment and unemployment; regulation (e.g. ‘nudging’); care (formal/paid and informal/unpaid); competition; education; health; housing; aging; agriculture; and, energy.

Recommended reading

• John O’Hagan, Francis O’Toole and Ciara Whelan (eds), The Economy of Ireland: Policy Making in a Global Context (14th edition; Bloomsbury, Dublin, August 2021) is the primary textbook.

• CORE ECON, Economy, Society and Public Policy (ESPP), see https://www.core-econ.org/espp/book/text/0-3-contents.html, and various associated materials provides very useful basic/core economics (for free – riddle me that).