2 posts published by Aidan Regan during August 2025| Democracy Challenged
The EU–US trade truce leaves generics untouched but puts branded drugs—the core of Ireland’s export engine—at risk, with multinationals ready to shift production and tweak transfer pricing to protect profits. The EU–US trade framework announced on 21 August was pitched as a breakthrough in calming transatlantic tensions. Europe will sweep away tariffs on American industrial […]| Democracy Challenged
The age of neoliberal hands-off economics is giving way to state-led tech geopolitics. For decades, neoliberal orthodoxy insisted that governments should stay out of the business of building indust…| Democracy Challenged
The US corporate landscape has morphed into a winner-takes-all economy, where a handful of multinational firms control the lion’s share of profits and market power. The data is stark. Across all US…| Democracy Challenged
Prof. Dr. Aidan Regan Project Lead About Aidan Aidan is a Professor of Political Economy at University College Dublin (UCD) and the Principal Investigator of a European Research Council (ERC) Conso…| Democracy Challenged
Intellectual property (IP) drives vast profits worldwide—but it also has a hidden financial “double life.” Multi-jurisdictional corporate groups (MJGs), particularly those in big tech a…| Democracy Challenged
In June 2025 the G7 quietly unraveled one of the boldest tax reforms ever attempted. The OECD global minimum tax was designed to curb profit shifting. A single clause now exempts United States mult…| Democracy Challenged
As the world’s richest guests descend on Venice for Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s lavish wedding, the scene is already drawing protest. And rightly so. Behind the €40 million party, the security …| Democracy Challenged
Between 2014 and 2024, Tesla generated more than $34 billion in global pre-tax profit. In most jurisdictions, that would translate into a meaningful tax contribution. In Tesla’s case, it produced a domestic tax benefit. Over the decade, the company’s global effective tax rate was –2.3 per cent. In the United States, it plunged to –58 […]| Democracy Challenged
When a U.S. tech giant charges its Irish subsidiary a fee to use pre-existing software, that charge—the buy-in payment—can shape where billions in profits end up, and how much tax is ever paid…| Democracy Challenged
The transatlantic trade relationship is often framed in terms of a stark imbalance: in 2024, the European Union ran a €198.2 billion goods trade surplus with the United States. On the surface, this…| Democracy Challenged
In 2024, Ireland booked almost €170 billion in royalty and licence payments as service imports. That figure is equivalent to 58% of Ireland’s modified gross national income (GNI*), which stood at €291 billion last year. These payments did not reflect booming Irish demand for foreign technology or intellectual property. They reveal how multi-jurisdictional corporate groups […]| Democracy Challenged
In recent weeks, we’ve repeatedly discussed intangible assets and their role in the complex tax strategies of multijurisdictional corporate groups (MJGs). Intangibles were central to our investigat…| Democracy Challenged
For over a decade, Ireland has enjoyed a corporate tax windfall so vast it has reshaped the country’s fiscal fortunes. Yet beneath the surface lies an accounting sleight-of-hand, now exposed in ful…| Democracy Challenged
We’re thrilled to share that The Business Post has published a detailed investigative report drawing on findings from our European Research Council-funded project at University College Dublin. The …| Democracy Challenged
Over the past decade, AbbVie Inc. has reported strong global earnings. But the distribution of those profits, and where they were taxed, tells a different story. From 2014 to 2024, AbbVie recorded …| Democracy Challenged