David McWilliams (economist): Difference between revisions
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McWilliams' style and accent, and reputation from [[Trinity College]] student days have led some commentators to believe he is the archetypal role model for [[Paul Howard (journalist)|Paul Howard's]] [[Ross O'Carroll-Kelly]] series of books.<ref>HiCo silver, away! [[Sunday Tribune]]. Anne-Marie Hourihane. Published on 05-11-06.</ref> He is also frequently lampooned in the satire magazine [[The Phoenix (magazine)|The Phoenix]]. |
McWilliams' style and accent, and reputation from [[Trinity College, Dublin|Trinity College]] student days have led some commentators to believe he is the archetypal role model for [[Paul Howard (journalist)|Paul Howard's]] [[Ross O'Carroll-Kelly]] series of books.<ref>HiCo silver, away! [[Sunday Tribune]]. Anne-Marie Hourihane. Published on 05-11-06.</ref> He is also frequently lampooned in the satire magazine [[The Phoenix (magazine)|The Phoenix]]. |
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However in radio interviews, McWilliams has emphasised his humble origins, notably that his father was unemployed.<ref name=RTE/><ref>[http://www.rte.ie/arts/2007/1124/conversationswitheamondunphy.html Interview with Eamon Dunphy] on [[RTÉ]].ie. Published on 23-11-07. Retrieved on 18-01-09.</ref> |
However in radio interviews, McWilliams has emphasised his humble origins, notably that his father was unemployed.<ref name=RTE/><ref>[http://www.rte.ie/arts/2007/1124/conversationswitheamondunphy.html Interview with Eamon Dunphy] on [[RTÉ]].ie. Published on 23-11-07. Retrieved on 18-01-09.</ref> |
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Revision as of 07:15, 2 May 2010
David McWilliams | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1966 (age 57–58)[1] |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Education | Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland and College of Europe, Belgium |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist, broadcaster, economist [2] |
| Website | http://www.davidmcwilliams.ie |
David McWilliams (born 1966[1]) is an Irish journalist and economist.[3] McWilliams has worked with the Central Bank of Ireland, UBS bank, and the Banque Nationale de Paris. More recently, he has become a popular broadcaster and documentary-maker with TV3 and RTÉ, as well as publishing three books, The Pope's Children, The Generation Game, and Follow the Money. McWilliams is particularly known for his warnings of the demise of the Irish property market,[4] along with calls for radical exchange rate and political change in Ireland.[5]
Biography
Education
McWilliams attended Blackrock College in Dublin. He then graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, with a degree in economics, as well as from the College of Europe, Belgium (late 1980s).
1990 through 2002
Between 1990 and 1993 he worked as an economist at the Central Bank of Ireland.[6] At 27, McWilliams moved to London to work at UBS in emerging markets analysis.[7] [8] At the ages of 30-31, still in London, McWilliams worked for Banque Nationale de Paris.[9] From 1999 to 2002, he was an emerging markets strategist with a New York-based hedge fund, Rockwest Capital.[10]
Writing and broadcasting
Since returning to work in Ireland in 2002, McWilliams has been mostly working in journalism and the media. He presented a current affairs programme called Agenda on TV3 and has also presented that station's coverage of the Irish General Election in 2002. He hosted the breakfast show on NewsTalk 106, a Dublin radio station, from the station's beginning in 2002 until the station replaced him by Eamon Dunphy in September 2004.[11] Soon after, McWilliams started presenting The Big Bite, a topical afternoon discussion programme on the television station RTÉ One. He is also a regular columnist in The Sunday Business Post and Irish Independent newspapers. Past articles from the paper are available from his website, as well as his monthly subscription newsletter, The David McWilliams Agenda.
In November 2006, RTÉ One broadcast In Search of the Pope's Children, a three-part series examining the economic and social landscape of modern Ireland. It was presented by David McWilliams and based on his book, The Pope's Children. The book has attracted controversy because of claims, published on 29 January 2006 by the newspaper Ireland on Sunday, that it is based on a book written in 2000 by David Brooks, Bobos in Paradise – The New Upper Class And How They Got There.
Publisher John Wiley & Sons picked up North American rights to The Pope's Children and published the new edition in the United States in February 2008 with a new foreword.
McWilliams' subsequent book The Generation Game was launched in mid-September 2007. It discussed many of Ireland’s ailments, including the predominance of property in the economy of the Republic of Ireland and the relation of Ireland to Europe and the world. The book is accompanied with a three-part television documentary series of the same name.
McWilliams has also hosted Leviathan: Political Cabaret, a live discussion and satire event which has featured at the Electric Picnic festival in 2006 and 2007.
Political and economic views
Generally, McWilliams is an admirer of the free-market ideas of monetarist school economist Milton Friedman, as "very much the kernel of most mainstream economic thinking these days", even if Friedman was "not always spot-on".[12] McWilliams also argues that Ireland's wealth is becoming more evenly distributed.[12] He cites Eurostat figures which indicate that Ireland is just above average in terms of equality by one type of measurement.
Ireland and the recession
McWilliams sees it possible that Ireland can default on its debt:
Could the unthinkable come to pass here? Could Ireland default on its sovereign debt? The answer is yes. Such a disaster is now quite possible. In the same way as a family can end up losing the house, the car, everything, a country, too, can fail to make its repayments.[13]
McWilliams favours radical regime change following the 2008 banking crisis in Ireland:[5]
In the banks at the very top, we have complicity, incompetence, cronyism and we have corruption. … A lot of people did nothing, while bankers took their fees. We have to be adult. We have to take responsibility for what we do. Nurses, policemen and schoolteachers are being asked to pay for second holidays in the Algarve. The average person must demand a new regime that has absolute no connection to the old regime. That is what we mean by being courageous. We have to be logical. We are part of the global world. Its standards have to be our standards.
Ireland and the European Union
McWilliams questions Ireland's continued participation in the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union in his books.[14] In an interview with Irish broadcaster Marian Finucane, on RTÉ (17 January 2009) and reported in the international press,[15] McWilliams argues:
What I am saying is, that in Europe, if Ireland continues hurtling down this road, which is close to default, the whole of Europe will be badly affected, the credibility of the euro will be badly affected. .. It is very essential that we go to Europe and say we have a serious problem. … the way we get out of this is either - there are two options – either, we default, or we pull out of the euro. Both of which are a disaster for us, but even a consequent disaster for the European project. We need to go to Europe and say we need more financial solidarity. If we have a single currency, there are obligations and responsibilities on both sides. The idea that France and Germany can just hang us out to dry - as has been the talk the past few days - should not be taken lying down.[5]
McWilliams suggests that Ireland could threaten its European Union partners in relation to the Treaty of Lisbon (2008):
This is a war. The best way to look at this is how do countries that are under attack defend themselves... The first thing we have to be is incredibly courageous. And that means doing things that are unthinkable on the economic front. No small country has ever got out of a debt crisis without changing its exchange rate. This is complete heresy at the moment in Ireland. People say that we are wedded to the euro and that the euro is absolutely essential. Now that was fine, as long as that we were able to pay our bills. Now that we can't pay our bills, there is an argument for being more aggressive in Europe. And when I say aggressive, we have a Lisbon vote coming up, and the Europeans are obsessed with us passing it. So therefore we have leverage in Europe.[5]
Popular culture
McWilliams' style and accent, and reputation from Trinity College student days have led some commentators to believe he is the archetypal role model for Paul Howard's Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series of books.[16] He is also frequently lampooned in the satire magazine The Phoenix.
However in radio interviews, McWilliams has emphasised his humble origins, notably that his father was unemployed.[5][17]
Comments are occasionally made on McWillams' capacity for self-publicity, describing him as the David Beckham of Irish media.[18]
McWilliams has been 'twinned' with David Caruso by some elements of the Irish media, mostly in reference to Caruso's CSI: Miami character.[19]
Awards
In January 2007, McWilliams was selected as one of 250 Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum.[20]
Bibliography
- The Generation Game (2007). ISBN 0-7171-4224-8.
- The Pope's Children (2005). ISBN 0-7171-4172-1.
- Follow the Money (2009). ISBN 0-7171-4254-X.
References
- ^ a b Who's Who gives a date of birth in 1968, but the Sunday Independent newspaper gives a year of 1966 in an article McWilliams is a real self-made man - he invented himself. Published on 12-11-06. Retrieved on 18-11-09.
- ^ Speaker Biography PersonallySpeaking.ie. Retrieved on 13-12-07.
- ^ The Generation Game review Metro Éireann. Retrieved on 17-01-09.
- ^ McWilliams credits himself with being the first to predict, back in the 1990s, the demise in Ireland's property market and economy that began in 2008. Conversations With Eamon Dunphy, 24 November 2007 : David McWilliams Retrieved on 18-12-08.
- ^ a b c d e Listen to an interview with Irish broadcaster Marion Finucane on RTÉ on [17 January 2009] on RTÉ.ie. Published on 17-01-09. Retrieved on 17-01-09. Available at rte.ie as an mp3
- ^ McWilliams has described the debilitating nature of the work that he found he was asked to do as a civil servant on in an interview with Marion Finucane on RTÉ.ie. Published on 17-01-09. Retrieved on 17-01-09.
- ^ McWilliams, in his past biographies, hints that he first coined the phrase "Celtic Tiger". In Conversations With Eamon Dunphy, 24 November 2007 (retrieved on 18-12-08), McWilliams skirted the question. However the first recorded use of the phrase is in a 1994 Morgan Stanley report by Kevin Gardiner. See e.g. "Ireland: Ireland and EMU: A Tiger by the Tail". Retrieved November 2, 2006.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|dateformat=ignored (help) - ^ McWilliams is a real self-made man - he invented himself Irish Independent. Published on 12-11-06. Retrieved on 18-11-09. Also see Conversations With Eamon Dunphy, 24 November 2007 : David McWilliams. Retrieved on 18-12-08
- ^ McWilliams, in biographies on his publisher websites, credits himself as head of Emerging Markets Research for Banque Nationale de Paris at the ages of 30-31. Moreover, McWilliams claims that during his time there, "the Emerging markets team was the most profitable unit of the Banque Nationale de Paris world-wide", according to McWilliams' website.
- ^ Biography Politics.ie. Retrieved on 13-12-07. Also see McWilliams is a real self-made man - he invented himself Irish Independent. Published on 12-11-06. Retrieved on 18-11-09.
- ^ The circumstances of his firing are discussed in Conversations With Eamon Dunphy, 24 November 2007. Retrieved on 18-12-08
- ^ a b On DavidMcWilliams.ie. Published on 19-11-06. Retrieved on 22-01-09.
- ^ Cold facts of how we could be ‘Iceland inside the euro, Published on 14-01-09, Retrieved on 14-01-09”
- ^ The Generation Game, 2007, particularly pages 220-223
- ^ Help Ireland or it will exit euro, economist warns Daily Telegraph. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard. Published on 19-01-09. Retrieved on 21-01-09.
- ^ HiCo silver, away! Sunday Tribune. Anne-Marie Hourihane. Published on 05-11-06.
- ^ Interview with Eamon Dunphy on RTÉ.ie. Published on 23-11-07. Retrieved on 18-01-09.
- ^ Phoenix Magazine Vol 25, No 2 January 25-Feb 8, 2007, www.phoenix-magazine.com.
- ^ Phoenix Magazine Vol 24, No 3-5
- ^ World Economic Forum Announces Young Global Leaders for 2007 Young Global Leaders. Retrieved on 21-01-09.