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The David McWilliams Podcast

The Behavioural Budget: How Tax Shapes Us

The David McWilliams Podcast

David McWilliams

News & Politics

4.5692 Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

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

0:05.3

book tour. I'm in Melbourne on the 8th of October, Sydney in the 9th of October, Brisbane the 10th, 11th, 12th of

0:12.7

October and Christchurch in New Zealand on the 14th of October. Check out David MacWilliams.

0:19.9

Dot i.e. forward slash tour for tickets and dates.

0:24.5

And if you're down under, we'll see you there.

0:26.9

Brings back a didgeridoo.

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To understand the economy, you have to understand human nature.

1:41.4

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