It is the height of misunderstanding to fear that public investment distorts markets and crowds private investment out; the reality is one of highly distorted markets that are clearly incapable of fostering adequate levels of private investment. By Yanis Varoufakis.

Two are the greatest untruths that have inflicted major damage upon our understanding of how social economies work; and, by extension, upon our societies. First, there is the pseudo-‘law’ of ‘crowding out’; i.e. the illusory belief that when public investment increases private investment suffers. Secondly, there is a widespread misconception that, under capitalism, value is created privately and then collectivised via the state (when, in truth, all value is produced collectively before it is privatised). In this post, taking my cue from Mariana Mazzucato’s excellent piece in today’s Guardian, I shall be posting some strong words against the first illusion.

In a summer where we seem to be fishing the bodies of young men out of rivers and canals with alarming frequency, there is surprisingly little debate about our paradoxical relationship with alcohol.

Cards on the table - I gave up drinking a few years ago after a young Wicklow man who was here in Stockholm to celebrate St Patrick’s Day drowned in an accident.

As is normal in Irish communities around the world, there was a lot of drinking done that weekend, and in truth it could have been any of us.

I had always been a heavy drinker, but by then I also had two young children. Having seen the grief caused by the death of that young Wicklow lad, it was time to do something. Enough was enough.

Irish tax rates are average, but we fall down badly on social insurance. We need a revolution in insuring society. By Michael Taft.

It is commonly asserted by progressives that Ireland is a ‘low-tax’ regime. Therefore, goes the argument, we should focus on tax increases rather than spending cuts – if we aspire to European level of public services and investment. This doesn’t tell the full story, though. Yes, government revenue is low by European standards. However, Ireland is an average taxed economy. The problem is that we are a woefully low-insured economy. This should alert us to more sophisticated strategies in the run-up to this and subsequent budgets. Let’s take a quick survey and see what lessons we might draw.

If the administration of justice in public is essential to the maintenance of a democratic state, then clearly the stability of the state would be supported by making access to what is happening in courts easier by having cases broadcast on television. By Vincent Browne.

The expectation that the silly season will end abruptly with the trial of Seán FitzPatrick and his co-accused is mistaken.

The book of evidence will be supplied to the defendants in the first week of October, and it could well be another year before a trial commences. That is unless things are fast-tracked; but, even then, the earliest likely date is next April.

The trial could be over in a few days - if, for instance, the judge finds after the prosecution presents its case that there is no case to answer - or it could go on for several weeks, the latter being the more likely. But whichever, it will be the most fascinating trial here, certainly since the Arms Trial of 1970. It could also be as sensational.

The Government's Personal Insolvency Bill, while providing some positives, favours the rights of creditors, banks and lending institutions. By Patrick Nulty, TD.

At the end of June this year there were a staggering 83,251 homes with mortgage arrears of more than 90 days. This represents 10.9% of all homes with mortgages. Of these 65,698 homes were in arrears of more than 180 days. This is the equivalent of 8.6% of the total stock.

While everyone who is struggling with debt repayments is under pressure, mortgage arrears are particularly stressful. The end result of failing to keep up with mortgage repayments can be not just losing your home but also losing all the money invested in it over the years. In addition it can mean families having to move out of their communities, away from neighbours, friends and supports. 316 properties were repossessed by lenders in the first half of this year, either through voluntary surrenders or court orders.

My school day, over eleven years, was filled with drawing, knitting and sewing. Various therapies, such as speech and language, occupational therapy and physical therapy were also part of that day. Travellers were automatically assumed to have a cognitive and cultural disability. The segregated syllabus didn’t include languages, maths, history or the Irish language – all mandatory subjects in mainstream education. By Rosaleen McDonagh.

As part of a genuinely free and accessible education system, from pre-primary to fourth level, the student grant system should be open to all students, regardless of means. By Paul Murphy.

The opening of the pre-budget season has seen the return of veiled and not-so-veiled debate between the coalition partners in the pages of the newspapers. Fine Gael and Labour are going to great lengths to create the impression that they are fighting hard for ‘their’ constituencies. For Labour in particular, faced with a dramatic slide in support, this is a vital exercise. The next budget will be savage and Labour wants to position itself as having opposed and stopped the worst of the Fine Gael proposals to attack its working class voters.

So far, a focal point has been a debate over means-testing for student grants. While currently students are means-tested on the incomes of their parents, Labour has raised the idea of means-testing students on the assets of their parents. On this issue, Labour is attempting to pose as a defender of the interests of working class people, by pointing out the inequities of grant access for PAYE workers compared to the farmers and the self-employed. While it is true that the urban and rural self-employed have opportunities for tax avoidance and evasion that PAYE workers do not have, Labour’s TDs cannot be seen in any way as defenders of ordinary PAYE workers in this situation.

On 24 May 2012, 23 former workers of the Vita Cortex manufacturing plant in Cork left their former plant after a six-month sit-in protest. Their protest had already lead to a compromise deal to resolve the dispute earlier in the month, in what was one of the longest sit-in protests in Irish industrial history. The workers had to take extraordinary measures to enforce their rights and they were not the only ones to find themselves fighting for what they considered was fair recompense after being made redundant.

Over the last couple of years, a number of companies - such as Laura Ashley, Game, Waterford Crystal, H.W. Wilson/Ebsco, Vita Cortex, La Senza, Thomas Cook and Kingscourt/Lagan Brick Workers - have seen workers they made redundant fight back and attempt to secure their rights through a variety of means. Why have so many workers felt that they had no choice but to enter into a dispute with former employers following redundancy?

According to Senator David Cullinane, the workers’ rights spokesperson for Sinn Féin, there are a number of contributing factors. “Obviously the recession to some extent contributed, more firms are under pressure, more firms are closing, and many more workers are being laid off on account of that. Clearly that, and the fact that alternative employment is more difficult to obtain currently, has meant that more and more workers are demanding rights, and in many instances, are finding that companies are either unwilling or unable to provide these entitlements. There is also a lack of protection legally, in my view.”