At another level, if cyclical volatility is appropriately managed, a more ambitious analysis would also seek to identify the macro-financial policy priorities if Ireland is to attain its long-term goals in terms of sustainable economic and social development. In these remarks, I seek to address both dimensions of sustaining positive economic performance.
At a conceptual level, it is straightforward to make the distinction between the long-run trend and the short-term cycle, with trend-cycle decompositions widely employed in economic analysis.