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Blog post

Head to Head

Publishing date
04 October 2008
Authors
Alan Ahearne

Should the budget contain measures to boost the Irish property market? Alan Ahearne says 'No', that a fall in property prices and a smaller construction sector are the tough medicine the Irish economy needs while Ronan O'Driscoll, Director of new homes at Savills Hamilton Osborne King, argues 'Yes'. He believes that by encouraging the sale of 30,000 unoccupied homes, the Irish Government could inject €10 billion into the ailing economy.

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About the authors

  • Alan Ahearne

    Alan Ahearne is a Professor and the Head of Economics at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He is a member of the Board of the Central Bank of Ireland and has served as adviser to the IMF. He is Chairman of the ESRI and Department of Finance Joint Research Programme on the Macro-economy and Taxation.

    Alan served as economic adviser to Ireland’s former Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan from 2009 to 2011.

    Alan obtained his PhD from Carnegie Mellon University (in Pittsburgh) in 1998 and subsequently joined the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, where he worked as a Senior Economist for seven years.

    His research at Bruegel has focused on macroeconomics, international finance and public policy, including macroeconomic adjustment in the euro area, reform of the euro area and governance of the EU, global current account imbalances, housing booms and busts, and the international experience with banking and financial crises.

Theme
Banking and capital markets
Language
English

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