Ronan Lyons

1/ Egalitarianism should begin at home. I link to this article by @bencasselman.bsky.social in light of the communications between Larry Summers and Jeffrey Epstein that have just been released. The released emails and the fact of friendship are vile. www.nytimes.com/2021/02/23/b...

The Housing Theory of Everything strikes again.

My theory is that this very important glitch in public economic reasoning stems from the length of time it takes to build homes (and that homes are built when prices are rising).

People should be restricted to one online opinion a day. That would increase the quality and thought going into each opinion, and reduce the numbers of mindless knee jerk reaction takes spoiling the internet.

Ireland has ~1.5 million homes suitable for families. Ireland is very unlikely to ever have more than 0.8m families (with kids under 18). Unbelievable that anyone paying attention to the housing crisis could have missed that the crisis is/will be for 1-2 person households. www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

Ireland has overtaken another EU member state, in population, for the first time since joining the EEC back in 1972. At current trends, Ireland will overtake Finland in 2028. (And Scotland maybe in 2027, just about.)

Important evidence on why housing is not like other markets - not because demand and supply don't work but because voters don't believe they do (despite the evidence). Likely key here is the long lag required to get new housing supply v other goods - so extra supply is associated with higher prices.

The latest JEP has an extraordinary set of papers on the economics of housing. My favorite? The one showing that most people incorrectly believe that increasing housing supply won't lower housing costs. Subsidizing home-buying is popular even though it raises costs. 🤦 www.aeaweb.org/issues/814

*Academics in early August

Given the CSO's pioneering work to develop true measures of national well-being in a globalized world economy, Ireland can feel a little bit cheated at being left out! For those curious, GNI* in 2024 was 57% of GDP. Following that thru, it would place Ireland ~10th, level with Germany.

Births weren't officially registered in Ireland until 1864 and then the census returns were burnt in the Four Courts, making it really hard for people in the 1920s/30s to prove their ages to get a pension. The acceptable alternative documentation included dated birthday cards

Why do women engage in sex work, especially given the health risks associated with the market? This paper shows that during a historical recession, the number of sex work establishments rose, suggesting that economic hardship may drive women into the market.

What determines electoral success in Ireland? Evidence from the last 30 years says being a woman reduces re-election chances by ten percentage points. Don't be in the out-going government (unless you're a Senior Minister). And Being Junior Minister, it turns out, does nothing.

And that's ok because the vast majority of additional housing required in all high-income countries is housing for 1-2 person households.

The €15.6 billion in user benefits over 60 years, by a rough calculation, works out to around €700,000 per day in transport user benefits being lost from not having a metro. @businesspost.bsky.social www.businesspost.ie/politics/bri...

This. 500 times over in central Dublin. Again and again and again.

Interesting paper on effect of interviewer gender on gender gap in reported housework. "women tend to report significantly more hours of housework when interviewed by a woman rather than by a man" link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Easy to miss with everything else that's going on but ... the world's greatest ever telescope has just started releasing its first images!

Thanks to everyone who attended our annual workshop! Special thanks to @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social for hosting, and to all our speakers for 2 excellent days of research and conversations. Economic history is thriving! #econhistory #econsky #NSRProject

Can't believe I only figured out today that "Uncle Sam" comes from: United States of AMerica

Funded PhD studentship of €25,000/year for 4 years plus fees available @tcddublin.bsky.social to work with me on Irish women's life writing from the long 18th century! Please spread the word! @ecfjournal.bsky.social @cecs-york.bsky.social @clhlwr.bsky.social @oxfordlifewriting.bsky.social

🚨Survey for university students🚨 I'm currently carrying out a project for DfE examining student mobility in higher education with Anne Devlin & Maureen O'Reilly Please share this short survey with any students in UK/ROI, every response helps! forms.office.com/e/80XqbE5DJG

"hey Ireland, you get a special mention as a close trading partner of the US in this paper about the impact of tariffs." "oh, is it good news?" "..."

No doubt there are people born in the 1750s and 1760s in this photo (albeit hidden away inside in the homes as it was taken). Amazing history.

🚗 Are you spending hours commuting every week — not because you want to, but because housing costs have left you no choice? I’m working on a story about Ireland’s commuting crisis and I’m looking to speak with those affected. Please repost 📩 gerherbert6@gmail.com #HousingCrisis #CommuterVoices

As a Leinster fan, bitterly disappointed to have lost. But what a game - neutrals must have really enjoyed it 😂😭. Some ref decisions I didn't understand at all but the better team definitely won. I'll be wishing them well for the final. Onwards and upwards for Leinster. Back to the URC!

"This, perhaps, is The Golden Road’s most urgent message for our times: we have always been a deeply globalized, interconnected, mongrel world. Those who continue to harken for a “pure” past will find it only by fictionalizing it."

Delighted to have been elected to Fellow of @tcddublin.bsky.social, together with my wonderful colleague @davideromelli.bsky.social. And what a day for it!

We visited a women's centre in the refugee camp in Adre in Chad set up by a refugee and social worker, Zahra Adam Khimes. The stories are very upsetting but the women there were really resilient and open and kind to each other www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...

Today, I review rent determination systems in over 50 high-income jurisdictions. I find there are four main types of system, from (mostly) market to (mostly) regulatory. Ireland is already among the three most regulatory. Going even more regulatory is unlikely, therefore, to improve outcomes.

Really nice visualisation of a lagged health outcome over decades (in contrast to the delays over days/weeks we typically see for acute infectious diseases like COVID)

The Department of Economics is seeking to appoint an Assistant Professor in Economics, to commence on 1st August 2025. 👏 📅Application deadline: 8 May 2025 🔗Apply via: jobs.tcd.ie #econsky #economics @tcdssp.bsky.social @cephie.bsky.social

Looks like I picked the right week to start reading Galbraith...

Big Business is just out of frame agreeing how great this all is

Not as pretty as John's graph (that's always a high bar) but here you can see the Irish equivalent Uncertainty Index, up to March. I've no doubt the April figure will match global trends. This comes from the excellent work of Jonathan Rice. www.policyuncertainty.com/ireland_rice...

The internet at its best. Four great penguin memes (that none of us would have got, even 24 hours ago)

Just as important as the general increase in tariffs is the complete abandonment of the principle of non-discrimination, which the US had traditionally championed. This will further increase international tensions at a time when the US is ripping up the post-1945 security architecture.

But her fucking emails.