Patrick Honohan facts for kids

Patrick Honohan (born 9 October 1949) is an Irish economist and public servant. He was the Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland from 2009 to 2015. This means he was in charge of Ireland's main bank. During this time, he was also part of the team that ran the European Central Bank. After 2016, he became a senior expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

His main job as Governor was to help Ireland recover from a big money problem. This was called the Post-2008 Irish banking crisis. He worked to fix the country's banks after they faced serious issues.

Patrick Honohan's Education

Patrick Honohan studied at University College Dublin. He earned a degree in Economics and Mathematics in 1971. He then got a master's degree in Economics from the same university in 1973. He continued his studies at the London School of Economics. There, he received another master's degree in 1974. He finished his studies with a PhD in Economics in 1978.

Patrick Honohan's Career

Before finishing his PhD, Patrick Honohan started working. In 1971, he joined the International Monetary Fund. This is an organization that helps countries with their money problems. Later, he joined the Central Bank of Ireland.

During the 1980s, Ireland faced a money crisis. Honohan became a special advisor to the Taoiseach (Ireland's Prime Minister), Garret FitzGerald. He helped with many important issues. These included income tax, social welfare, and fixing state-owned companies. He also worked on changing laws for building societies. In 1986, he helped with a change in the value of the Irish pound.

Honohan spent seven years as a research professor. He worked at the Economic and Social Research Institute. In 1998, he returned to the World Bank. He had worked there before, from 1987 to 1990. At the World Bank, he studied financial issues. He advised many developing countries, like China and Egypt. He also helped create a program to check the health of financial systems.

Patrick Honohan has taught economics at several universities. These include the London School of Economics and University College Dublin. In 2007, he became a professor at Trinity College, Dublin. His academic work looked at how to prevent banking crises. He also studied how to help poor countries by giving them more access to banking services.

In September 2009, Honohan became the head of the Central Bank of Ireland. He was known for being very honest. He did not just follow what everyone else wanted. This was important because the Central Bank had been criticized before. In May 2010, he wrote a report about the Irish banking crisis. This report explained what went wrong. His work helped improve the bank's reputation. In 2016, the Central Bank of Ireland won "Central Bank of the Year."

He played a big part in managing Ireland's banking crisis. He helped to put more money into banks. He also helped to fix their debts. This work needed financial help from the IMF and the European Union. He wrote a book in 2019 about his experiences.

Patrick Honohan's Views

After leaving the Central Bank, Honohan spoke about how big companies affect Ireland's economy. He noted that the way some large international companies manage their money can make Ireland's economic numbers look strange. Ireland is sometimes seen as a place where companies can pay less tax.

In 2016, he talked about "leprechaun economics." This was a time when Ireland's economic growth numbers seemed much higher than expected. He said that the activities of a few big companies made Ireland's economic data look misleading.

He also talked about "credit booms." This is when people borrow a lot of money. He explained how a boom in construction created many jobs. People from other countries came to work in Ireland. This boom also brought in a lot of tax money. This money came from things like property sales and construction materials.

Other Activities

• European Central Bank (ECB), Chair of the Ethics Committee (2019–22)

See Also

• Irish property bubble
• Post-2008 Irish economic downturn
• National Asset Management Agency
• Ireland as a tax haven