Staying In Tonight?

at

Picture: Tony Kinlan.

Ireland’s Great Wealth Divide on RTÉ One at 9.35pm.

With Professor McDreamy

Gareth Naughton writes;

The programme reveals the true extent of the wealth gap in Ireland with the richest 20 per cent owning 73 per cent of the country’s wealth versus the meagre 0.2 per cent owned by the poorest 20 per cent. Economist David McWilliams examines why this is happening, what can be done about it and considers the dangers of doing nothing….

David will suggest a radical solution at addressing this that does not require new taxes but addresses the imbalance and will incentivise people and give them a greater stake in our economy.

FIGHT!

Alternatively…

the fear

The Fear on RTÉ 2 at 10.25pm.

Melanie O’Connor writes:

This week on The Fear Dermot Whelan epically pranks his co-host Dave Moore into believing they are making a commercial for their sponsor McCain….

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43 thoughts on “Staying In Tonight?

  1. Spaghetti Hoop

    I was only thinking there recently that ‘Professor McDreamy’ – your nickname, not mine – must be trying to think of a really bad economic problem to jump on telly about.

    1. ahyeah

      He is not a prof and way too Irish looking to come even close to McDreamy. Rather misleading of BS to say otherwise.

      1. Otis Blue

        Was introduced as such on The Last Word earlier. He didn’t attempt to clarify it.

        As ever he’s a triumph of style over substance.

  2. Nikkeboentje

    Nothing new here, the “80/20 rule” (or 73/20 in this case) is applicable in most modern countries.

    1. realPolithicks

      Come to think of it though, I thought I read somewhere that there is “one rule for the rich, and another one for the poor”.

  3. ahjayzis

    I don’t get the Fear thing, especially when it’s RTE presenters getting pranked – how do they not recognise the people doing it? They work in the same building / run in the same crowds?!

    1. fmong

      the bigger question is who ever thought Dermot and Dave were funny or likeable.. awful bolloxs the two of them

    1. Mr. T.

      Except that’s not how it works in reality because the wealthy try every trick in the book to avoid taxes, including not declaring their income at all. So they don’t contribute their fair share.

      Less of the spin.

    2. realPolithicks

      “Wealthy people creating wealth for everyone to enjoy”

      What alternative universe are you living in?

    3. Demon

      Dr MacDreamy’s point is that the wealth that goes around and comes around is made rather by ordinary people having money to spend, which benefits SMEs, which put more money into the economy, and so on around. The untaxed multinationals, on the other hand, take the money and put it in the Cayman Islands and sit on it like the dwarves on a pile of gold in a Scandinavian tale.
      And DrMacDr isn’t asking to take all the money away from these kindly multinationals. He just said that if they paid an even minimally fair share of tax per Irish employee, rather than being virtually excused from taxpaying, it would pour money into the economy that could be used for health and education and creches so parents could work, and all of the Irish services that are now starved of cash.

  4. Mr. T.

    Will he mention the Fine Gael introduced Capital Gains Tax exemption for people who buy investment property and hold it for sever years before selling?

    It was set up to allow vulture funds (mainly US based) and Irish investors to buy up thousands of units at rock bottom prices and not pay any capital gains when they sell them after seven years.

    And that was facilitated as Fine Gael slashed public spending on hospitals and community groups.

    So big lazy fat investors who never even set foot here make an extra few million instead of that money paying for services for mentally ill, disabled children, full time carers, community initiatives, combating homelessness.

    That’s Fine Gael, feed the poor to the rich.

    1. Domestos

      Without getting a touch of TheJournalitis, it’s good to hear some good auld FG bashing as opposing to the naive ranting at Labour.

      1. All the good ones fly south for winter

        There is a breeding program at work in Donnybrook to ensure they never have to use outsiders.

  5. phil

    Here is what I think:

    People think politicians are incompetent, McWilliams bit above proves that they are serving their constituency quite well .

    Im not a begrudger, I think in a meritocracy the talented and the hard workers will earn handsomely , but we also live in a republic , and I think that wealth should only allow you purchase more expensive items, wealth should not garner you respect or soften authorities or journalists behaviour when dealing with you when you misbehave.

    to to recap, bloated wealth may be ok, but deference to the wealthy makes me sick.

    1. Domestos

      Serious though, what meritocracy? I know I benefit from not being born in Darndale. That example may be extreme (or maybe not), but there are all sorts of obstacles people from lower income backgrounds will face that tear up the playing field.

      1. David J

        Care to elaborate? Because from what I see we have many many ways people from poorer areas to excel. When I was in DIT I was the only one in my final year of 15 people who was not getting a grant. And I was far from wealthy. My manager in work is from a council estate in inner city cork and is doing well for himself. People from poorer areas in Ireland have lots of opportunity, especially when compared to most countries.

    2. KevM

      Indeed, but under this intense income inequality, social mobility is none existent. How many people are out there working good jobs, their partner is working a good job and they are struggling.

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