Richard Whelan

28 August, 2012

Articles

Why We Must Restore Accountability to the Public Service

Vulnerable children were murdered, drowned, and allowed to die of drug abuse, and an elite that did not really care – the report of the Independent Child Death Review Group.

The examination of this shameful scandal, led by Geoffrey Shannon and Norah Gibbon, “lays bare an appalling catalogue of incompetence, dereliction, lack of professionalism and failure in duty” observed former editor of the Irish Times Conor Brady in that paper on July 5, 2012. There is no arguing with the conclusions, but what if the underlying problem is not to be found in the detail of this latest failure in the Irish system of public administration?

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Tagged Abbeylara Inquiry, Accountability, Child Protection, Ireland, Laffoy Commission, Mahon Tribunal, Morris Report, Public Services, Rule Of Law, Ryan Report

29 June, 2012

Book Reviews

Slow Finance

Slow Finance, by Gervais Williams, Bloomsbury, London, Sterling £20, 183 pages

There’s food for thought in adopting the principles of the Slow Cooking movement and applying them to making investment decisions. Typically the Slow Cooking aficionado chooses ingredients carefully, preparing them the night before, cutting meat into small chunks, trimming the vegetables. In the morning they go into a vessel which cooks them slowly at a lower heat, allowing all the juices and flavours to blend. In the evening the smell of a delicious casserole wafts out from the kitchen. This makes a much more appetising prospect than zapping an “unidentified frying object” in a microwave, as celebrity chef Keith Floyd used to say.

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Tagged Credit, Deleveraging, Economic Growth, Economy, Finance, fund management, funds, Gervais Williams, Growth, investment, Slow Finance, Slow Investment

28 June, 2012

Articles

Democracy – Under Threat in Europe – Must be Struggled and Fought For

A threat to democracy frequently follows major shocks in international relations. The period between the two World Wars saw Germany, the USSR, Spain and Italy sacrifice democracy at the altar of populist dictators. Unfortunately some of the slouching beasts from history that led to that collapse of democracy have now awakened from their slumber in Europe.

Greece, long associated with the very concept of democracy, is but an extreme example of this growing threat. Many of the issues that threaten the future of democracy in Greece are present in a number of other countries in Europe, including in Ireland, though obviously with different emphasis and to a different degree. The future of democracy in Europe is being ever more closely linked – through a ghastly financial domino theory which says that if Greece falls, Spain, Italy, Ireland and Portugal cannot be far behind.

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Tagged Bailout, budgets, Democracy, EU, Europe, Governance, Greece, IMF, International Relations, Politics

8 May, 2012

Articles

A Strategic Analysis Suggests that Ireland Should Vote Yes in the Referendum on the Fiscal Stability Treaty

A risk management perspective also suggests that a yes vote is the current best choice for Ireland.

With so much uncertainty and conflicting information, perhaps the only rational way to evaluate which way to vote in the referendum on the Fiscal Treaty is to look at it from a strategic/risk management perspective based on likely developments in the euro zone over the next few years. Considering the impact on Ireland of those possible and foreseeable alternatives should clarify what a rational voter should do. This is necessary as it is most likely that Ireland will be voting in advance of any of the development set out below.

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Tagged Euro, Euro Zone, Europe, Finance, Fiscal Stability Treaty, FSM, Greece, Ireland, Referendum, Risk Management

25 April, 2012

Book Reviews

We Spent Our Children’s Birthright Through Foolish Borrowing

Endgame the End of the Debt Supercycle and How It Changes Everything, John Mauldin and Jonathan Tepper, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New Jersey, $27.95, 2011, 318 pages.

American Gridlock Why the Right and Left Are Both Wrong, H. Woody Brock, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New Jersey, $27.95, 2012, 273 pages.

In Charles Dickens’ novel David Copperfield, Mr. Micawber identifies an essential difference between happiness and misery.

“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.”

Two recent books consider the muddle politicians, bankers and economists have made of the world’s finances, during which the Micawber doctrine sadly got forgotten. They focus on the debt burden we have strapped on to the backs of coming generations and tackle the inability of current political systems to confront the ensuing mess.

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Tagged banking, Debt Cycle, Debt Problem, demographics, economics, Euro, Eurozone, Finance, Growth, H. Woody Brock, John Mauldin, Jonathan Tepper, Politics

26 February, 2012

Book Reviews

My Better Story Trumps Your Stronger Army

The Future of Power, by Joseph S. Nye, Jr.,
Public Affairs Books, New York, 310 pp, €21.40

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Tagged Joseph S. Nye, Politics, The Future of Power, transnational relations

28 January, 2012

Articles

Drugs Money and Crime Make the World Go Round

Introduction

My purpose is to draw attention to the phenomenon of a new form of crime network, in effect the globalisation of crime aided by terrorism, sometimes energised by “anti political” governments, and the hijacking of freedom movements in the developing world by people with very dubious agendas.

In the early years of his first presidency, Vladimir Putin predicted that the confluence of major criminal networks with terrorism would prove to be a major challenge for the world.

I begin by examining important recent research published by two reputable international bodies. Both show that Russia’s current prime minister got it right. Continue reading →

Tagged Al-Qaeda, AQIM, Bolivian Liberation Forces, Columbia, Corruption, DEA, Drug Enforcement Unit, drug trafficking, drugs, ETA, FARC, freedom movements, Hugo Chavez, IRA, organised crime, Paul Reyes, Political Violence, Russia, Terrorism, Urban Colectivos, Venezuela

13 December, 2011

Articles

The European Dream is Over. What Will Replace it?

The imminent collapse of the Euro is a symptom of a broader and potentially terminal malaise in the EU. This latest, fourth failed effort this year, signals the beginning of the end. Continue reading →

Tagged EU, Euro, Europe, George Soros, Germany, Merkozy, Paul Krugman, Wolfgang Munchau

2 November, 2011

Articles