Why Fees Aren’t Free

The decision by the Irish government to repeal the reintroduction of fees has been met with joy by students around the country. But ‘free fees’ promotes inefficiency and propogates inequality, by not imposing the true cost of education on students.

Those who criticised the reintroduction of fees claim that students couldn’t afford to pay them, and that access to education would be limited as a result. Unfortunately, inequality in educational opportunity may stem from differing financial conditions – but free fees does nothing to stop this. As long as wealthier families can gain an advantage through spending (either through private tuition or grind schools), they will do so.

A Different Kind Of Carbon Leakage

The Irish Government recently decided to ban fur farming in Ireland. Their justification for this, presumably, stems from concern for animal rights and the cruelty of the practice.

In fact, this measure may end up harming animals – by pushing fur farming out of jurisdictions with responsible and concerned governments, they are forcing fur farming into more permissive and cruel states.

The Importance of Property Rights

The New York Times discusses the diversity of revenue streams which support the Taliban in Afghanistan. In recent months, US forces have begun to express doubt over whether a policy to damage the opium trade will really hurt their finances.

Surprisingly, lessons can be learned from Peru’s experience fighting the drug trade and the ‘Shining Path’ guerilla movement in the early 1990s. In that case, the forces aligned against the government drew their power from an unlikely source.

The Folly of Central Planning

The purpose of the Central Societies’ Committee (CSC) in Trinity College is to secure funding from the Capitation Committee, and then distribute this to societies. Each year, members allocate tens of thousands of euro in funding to student societies around campus.

In a perfect world, all students would have an equal say in how college funding is allocated to societies. After all, this is your money and it is being allocated for your benefit. But a CSC composed of some 15,000 members is completely unworkable and would never reach consensus. Thus, we need a central authority to decide how to spend our money. Or do we?

Greens Are Here To Stay.. For Now – Part 2

The direct economic implications of the new Program for Government agreed  by Fianna Fáil and the Green Party was analysed here. Let’s move onto the other components of the agreement – the environment, education, health and transport.

Turning The Tide

President Hu Jintao of China was lauded at the UN climate change summit last week for his bold plans to counter global warming, reports China Daily. His remarks represent a turn-around in China’s attitude and policy.

It is all very reminiscent of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which banned the international trade of slaves in the British Empire. For fear of becoming economically uncompetitive, the British went on to tirelessly campaign against the practice elsewhere.

Greens Are Here To Stay.. For Now – Part 1

Fianna Fáil and the Green Party have agreed a program for government, and it will presumably be ratified by the members of the Green Party today. It’s available online here. It seems extremely generous, with education and electoral reforms standing out as victories for the Green Party. Let’s take a closer look at some highlights.

Are Far Away Elections Really Greener?

Tomorrow, the Green Party will hold a vote to determine whether to continue in government with Fianna Fáil, and whether to support NAMA. Ciarán Cuffe TD describes it as ‘the eleventh hour’.

The Green Party have probably waited too long to ditch Fianna Fáil. Instead, they chose to watch as NAMA threatened to saddle this nation with years of huge debt. Instead, they chose to watch government expenditure insufficiently contract to deal with the tax revenue crisis.

Tomorrow’s vote might provide them with one last opportunity to rescue themselves from the fate of the Progressive Democrats.

Bacik To The Dark Ages?

Senator Ivana Bacik claims in Trinity News that “the Minister for Justice has brought us back to the Dark Ages” with the revision of Ireland’s law on blasphemy. Unfortunately, censorship may be reappearing in response to a newer and far more malevolent force than catholic conservatism.

This week, it will have been 4 years since a terrifying manifestation of this – the controversy and violence resultant from the publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed in the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten.

Where Do We Go From Here?

It now looks like Ireland will pass the Lisbon Treaty. Remember the last referendum? There was literally no mention of many important issues which were lauded by the ‘Yes’ side this time round. Truly, it is difficult to blame the Irish people entirely for being skeptical the last time around.

There are valuable lessons to be learned from the whole fiasco, which started with the rejection of the European Constitution by Dutch and French voters in 2005. It’s time for everyone in Europe to start asking themselves: where are we heading with the European Union?