InterTradeIreland – Economic shocks and recovery: Comparing Covid 19 to 2008

Professor Alan Ahearne, was an economic adviser to the Irish Government during the 2008 financial crisis and has recently been appointed as an adviser to the Government in response to the COVID crisis. During this event he will discuss:

• How the shock to the economy of the COVID-19 crisis compares with the global financial crisis in 2008, and how the Government response differs
• How SMEs can respond to the current shock to survive and prosper.
• What opportunities may emerge from the crisis that SMEs can tap into

In this talk, Prof Ahearne will focus on SMEs in times of economic crisis and learnings from the previous crisis for SME survival and  recovery. Alan will offer insights into potential avenues of opportunity for SMEs to explore as they seek to survive and grow.  The event will be of interest to SMEs, industry associations, policymakers and academics. The online event will take place on Wednesday, 2nd September at 12 noon and is free and open to the public.

REGISTER HERE

About the speaker

Alan Ahearne is Director of the Whitaker Institute and Professor of Economics at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He served as a member of Commission (that is, the Board of Directors) of the Central Bank of Ireland from 2011 to 2020, as well as Chair of the Central Bank’s Risk Committee and Budget and Remuneration Committee. He is Chairman of the Department of Finance and ESRI Joint Research Programme on the Macroeconomy, Taxation & Banking. He is also a member of the External Advisory Group to Ireland’s Parliamentary Budget Office. He has served as Adviser to the IMF and as a Research Fellow at Bruegel, the influential Brussels-based think tank. He holds an honorary appointment at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia.

Alan served as Special Adviser to Ireland’s former Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan from 2009 to 2011. In this role, he advised the Minister on economic, budgetary and financial policy in responding to the economic and financial crisis. He served during 2018/19 as a member of the Independent Review Group set up by the Department of Health to examine the removal of private practice from public acute hospitals. In July 2020, Alan was appointed economic adviser to the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin.

REGISTER HERE