High volatility in Irish growth
An ERSI research paper has shown that Ireland's figures for economic growth are among the most volatile among OECD countries.
Researcher Niall Collins says the difficulties in measuring Ireland's quarterly GDP and GNP are most acute at turning points in the economy.
The Irish Times gives an example from last year when an unpredicted advance in spring and early summer led Michael Noonan to upgrade the country's growth forecast twice within a week in autumn.
"The measured volatility reflects both the underlying volatility in the Irish economy, but also the difficulty in measuring economic output in a small open economy," said the report.
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MEPs debate TTIP deal
A vote on Thursday on recommendations for US-EU trade negotiations will be made by one committee with just 41 members.
The Parliament's International Trade Committee will adopt non-binding recommendations to the European Commission on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
The investor state dispute settlement (ISDS), which allows for companies to sue states in special arbitration tribunals for damages and compensation, remains a sticking point for parties.
According to Poitico.eu, within the committee the Socialist & Democrats group and Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group are proposing to resolve such disputes "without the use of ISDS private arbitration."
The European People’s Party, Alliance of Liberals & Democrats and European Conservatives and Reformists Group are pushing are more transparent ISDS solution.
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Further mixed signals from Greece
The Greek stock market jumped 4% in value yesterday following government-sponsored reports the country was finally close to a deal with its creditors, the IMF, ECB and EU.
Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras was one of those fuelling the optimism, saying, "We have made many steps; we are on the final stretch towards a positive deal."
But, in the ongoing game of chicken, European officials immediately dampened speculation that a deal was imminent. The Vice-President of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, said both sides were not there yet but were working on a staff level agreement while France’s Finance Minister, Michel Sapin, said any commitments had yet to be put on paper.
Time is running out. Greece faces its next repayment of more than €300m to the IMF, tomorrow week, June 5.
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African Development Bank votes on president
The African Development Bank is set to elect a successor to Donald Kaberuka, whose second term ends this year.
Under the Rwandan's tenure, the AfDB has become Africa's main financial institution. According to the BBC, it has allocated more than half its funds to infrastructure projects - mainly transport and energy.
Eight candidates are in contention and the election will take place on Thursday. Appearing on the ballot will be Ethiopia's Minister for Finance Sufian Ahmed, Nigeria's Minister for Agriculture Akinwumi A Adesina, and Cape Verde Minister for Finance Cristina Duarte, who may become the AfDB's first female president.
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Snapchat heads for IPO
Snapchat is preparing what may be the biggest Silicon Valley IPO since Twitter.
"We need to IPO; we have a plan for that," said founder Evan Spiegel at Code Conference this week.
The owners of the photo-sharing app rejected a $3bn cash offer by Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg in 2013, and the company's latest funding round values it at $15bn.
Snapchat plans to branch out from instant photo messaging and also provide music and news services for its 100m users.
