oecd

What can Northern Ireland pragmatically do to decrease social inequality?

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So yesterday began with the publication of a report from the OECD which found an unerring correlation between greater equality and greater economic growth. The finding is new, but not necessarily a surprise. The gap between rich and poor is at its highest level in most OECD countries in 30 years. Today, the richest 10% of the population in the OECD area earn 9.5 times more than the poorest 10%. By contrast, in the 1980s the ratio stood at 7:1. …

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#G8: Taxation should remain focused on capital and employees not where sales are generated…

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Sammy Wilson’s negative comments re the Republic’s tax regime at the weekend, just before the G8 convened, was clearly jumping on board mumbling from the US Congress, and Westminster PAC… …the British government does have some leverage on the Irish Government there, because they have a £7.5 billion loan, that is a lot of leverage. They should be saying to the government in the Republic, you cannot steal tax revenue from us in this way and that is in fact …

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After the storm

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The Croke Park deal should ensure that Irish public sector workers are spared any further pay cuts. Perhaps worth reflecting, after a painful couple of years, that according to the OECD, Irish state workers are still among the best rewarded in the world. The Sunday Business Post report on a survey by Forfas and the National Competitiveness Council. The figures for 2010 show that Irish nurses are paid the fourth-highest average salary ($67,000) in the OECD. The starting salary for …

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