IBEC Launch Report on a New Macro Economic Model for Northern Ireland

Annmarie and Aidan from the Centre attended yesterday’s launch of the Report on a New Macro Economic Model for Northern Ireland at the Irish Business and Employers’ Confederation (IBEC) headquarters in Dublin.

Aidan said: “The IBEC report on a macroeconomic model has been developed jointly by the Economic and Social Research Institute and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

“Macroeconomic models for the Republic of Ireland were first developed in the 1980s and have been refined on an ongoing basis since. They allow policy makers to model the potential impacts of major economic policy decisions and economic shocks across the whole of an economy.

“Part of the rationale for commissioning the model is that the Northern Ireland economy is unique and doesn’t behave in the same way as either the UK or Republic of Ireland economies. The new model factors in the block grant and allows for the fact that much of Northern Ireland’s tax and spending decisions are retained in Westminster.

“The new model can demonstrate the effects of economic policy decisions and economic shocks on Northern Ireland, the republic of Ireland and the All-Island economy and may be useful in modelling the potential impacts of further fiscal devolution for Northern Ireland as that debate evolves.”

The report was authored by Adele Bergin (Associate Research Professor) and Akhilesh Kumar Verma (Post Doctoral Research Fellow) at the Economic and Social Research Institute – both of whom hold adjunct positions at Trinity College, Dublin; and Professor Stephen Millard (Deputy Director of Macroeconomic Modelling and Forecasting) and Hailey Low (Associate Economist) at the National Institute for Economic and Social Research.

The full report can be found here