Profiting from the downturn

Nat O'Connor14/08/2009

Nat O'Connor: We are reminded again in today's Irish Times that some people are not living in the same economy as the rest of us. Despite cuts to frontline wages, managers in manufacturing are giving themselves a pay rise of 6.5 percent.

One of the results of the recession is that it shows how contingent our economic systems are on state intervention, especially as the insurer of last resort. Today's evidence is a further reminder that, once the economic system is patched up at our expense, businesses will return to business (and profit) as usual.

So, since we are funding economic recovery by risking our money on buying bad debt from the banks, maybe it's time to start raising our voices about the need to regulate profit; for example, by linking managerial wages to those of frontline staff.

Posted in: Labour market

Tagged with: Wages

Dr Nat O'Connor     @natpolicy

Nat O'Connor

Nat O’Connor is a member of the Institute for Research in Social Sciences (IRiSS) and a Lecturer of Public Policy and Public Management in the School of Criminology, Politics and Social Policy at Ulster University.

Previously Director of TASC, Nat also led the research team in Dublin’s Homeless Agency.

Nat holds a PhD in Political Science from Trinity College Dublin (2008) and an MA in Political Science and Social Policy form the University of Dundee (1998). Nat’s primary research interest is in how research-informed public policy can achieve social justice and human wellbeing. Nat’s work has focused on economic inequality, housing and homelessness, democratic accountability and public policy analysis. His PhD focused on public access to information as part of democratic policy making.


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