Kilkenomics festival - transforming Irish politics - Ireland's 'tea party' - the myth of free trade - understanding economics

Source: kilkenomics

"As ordinary Irish people start to realise that this thing is not only happening, it is happening to them, we can see anxiety giving way to the first upwellings of an inchoate rage and despair that will transform Irish politics along the lines of the Tea Party in America." --Morgan Kelly

Kilkenomics is an Economics festival which will run in Kilkenny city from November 11th - 14th 2010.

Twenty-four events, five venues, views from four continents, thousands of questions, hundreds of answers, one weekend.

If you’re like us you're finding all economics complicated and frightening in equal measure right now. What if we were to put some world class economic thinkers together with some of the best comic analytical minds available and see if they can’t make all this easier to understand in a way that is entertaining, informative and funny?

Money is serious. Comedy is funny. This could be seriously funny. And seriously useful too. Maybe there’s a way of looking at all this, a way which acknowledges how absurd where we are now is and looks for a way out with insight, humour and originality rather than depressing analysis of how we’re all going to hell in a hand basket. Our comedians, Colin Murphy, Karl Spain, Fred MacAulay, Des Bishop, Neil Delamere and Barry Murphy have all shown an ability to deal with the dark side of life without depressing their audience. Our economists are world class, all offering a unique take on what just happened, what will happen and what needs to happen next. Maybe if we put them together we’ll come away with a unique perspective and understanding of where we are, how we got here and were we need to go next. And we might actually enjoy ourselves getting there.

Find out how one of America’s most successful investors – Peter Schiff – got everything right, from sub-prime to banks, from the dollar to gold and made a fortune in the process. Meet Bill Black, whose mastery of banking fraud and white collar crime has defined a generation; or listen to the astonishing clarity and razor-sharp insights of best-selling author, John Lanchester. Discover why brilliant economist Ha-Joon Chang believes that the washing machine has changed our lives more than the Internet and why globalisation isn’t making the world richer.

Scroll slider to the 12:40 point to see David McWilliams preview the Kilkenomics festival and assert that crippling debt repayments are a bailout for the Elite and French and German banks.