Economy: Incentivising Investment and Competitiveness and Managing Public Debt

How should NI respond to Corporation Tax cuts in ROI and GB?

Dr Gareth Campbell (QUB) The Fresh Start Agreement committed the NI Executive to reducing the corporation tax rate in Northern Ireland to 12.5% from 2018. The intention was to make the tax rate in NI the same as in ROI, and lower than in GB. However, within the past year the Irish government has cut its tax rate on certain

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Competitiveness Scorecard for NI

Mr Richard Johnston and Miss Laura Heery (Ulster) Competitiveness is a key driver in the rate of economic growth and living standards. Ulster University’s Economic Policy Centre (UUEPC) developed the Competitiveness Scorecard on behalf of the Economic Advisory Group, taking a similar approach to the Republic of Ireland’s National Competitiveness Council. The Scorecard benchmarks NI’s relative competitiveness against a range

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Unlocking Benefits and Opportunities through Social Infrastructure

Dr Sharon McClements, Prof Martin Haran and Mr Andrew McErlane (Ulster) Research has established that social infrastructure provision positively influences economic growth and social development, and a review of historical spending in NI indicates an identified need to upgrade and replace social infrastructure. Yet, as the UK Government continues to implement its austerity policies, the NI Executive has been subject

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Options for public debt management

Dr Dimitris P. Sotiropoulos (OU) Austerity policies in the wake of the 2008 global financial meltdown have left a host of developed capitalist economies struggling with very high levels of sovereign indebtedness. Given that prospects for economic growth still remain anaemic, and that financial risks have not been completely eliminated, the recovery process is slow and fragile. Contemporary policy-making thus

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