The Behavioural Budget: How Tax Shapes Us

The David McWilliams Podcast

David McWilliams

News & Politics

4.5 • 692 Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We promise this isn’t another boring budget breakdown! This week, we’re asking a bigger question: what if taxation isn’t really about raising money, but about changing behaviour? With Ireland awash in corporate tax revenue, the old logic of “tax to fund spending” doesn’t quite hold. So, should we start using taxes to shape how people act, from derelict sites to carbon emissions, and borrow the money we need instead? We explore how Ireland’s unique position in global finance could make it a testing ground for a new kind of economic thinking, one where the budget becomes less about arithmetic, and more about incentives, behaviour, and human nature.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before we start, John, a quick announcement. I am going to Australia. I am doing an Australian
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