The presumption that Ireland became wealthy during the boom is false, and Irish workers, by and large, wasted their high incomes during the Celtic Tiger years, a new report from Davy stockbrokers has said. The Davy report says that while Ireland has moved up the income per capita table yearly since 1994, the country never became wealthy, as much of the money made between 2000 and 2008 was wasted. The stockbroker’s report acknowledges that Ireland was still ranked eighth in the Eurozone in terms of wealth at the end of 2009 but said that years of high income were not enough for a country to become wealthy. To become truly…

Bank of America (BoA) has reported a net loss of US$194m for its fourth quarter compared to a loss of US$1.8bn reported a year earlier. America’s largest bank was hit with a US$4bn charge during the final quarter of the year as it paid back the last of the taxpayer monies it owed under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). BoA said it has now repaid the US$45bn in TARP funds it received from the US Government over the course of the financial crisis. Revenue for the fourth quarter rose 59pc to US$25.4bn from US$16bn a year ago, the bank said, which reflected in part its acquisition of Merrill Lynch.…

Aer Lingus’ Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer Niall Walsh has resigned from the airline. The airline issued a statement yesterday saying that Walsh will leave the company with immediate effect “to pursue other interests”. Christoph Mueller, Aer Lingus’ Chief Executive Officer, will assume responsibility for the duties of the Chief Operating Officer for a temporary period. Aer Lingus Chief Engineer Fergus Wilson will assist Mueller with the additional role. The role of Deputy Chief Executive will be discontinued, Aer Lingus said. In terms of the Chief Operating Officer role, the carrier said it will immediately begin an external search. “I would like to thank Niall for his 16…

In Vijay Govindarajan’s view, many of the major innovations of the future will originate in emerging markets. Global companies in the developed world will need to get in on the act if they are to compete, he says. Gone are the days when the major mass markets were the US, Japan, and Europe. Today, emerging markets such as Brazil, China, India, and Russia represent half of the world’s GDP and over 40pc of its exports. They now represent the mass markets that need to be served, and not with products designed for traditional consumers. With many forecasting that the developed world will see a prolonged period of the slow growth…