Kilkenomics launches biggest programme to date

Following last week’s announcement of four high-profile speakers for Kilkenomics 2015 – Yanis Varoufakis, Rory Sutherland, Nassim Nicholas Taleb and Martin Wolf – the full programme was launched today amid confirmation that the festival’s opening event in St Canice’s Cathedral of David McWilliams’ In Conversation with Yanis Varoufakis has sold out.

The sixth edition of Kilkenomics features its biggest programme to date, comprising more than 40 events over four days by a stellar line-up of national and international economists, commentators and comedians in Kilkenny city from November 5th to 8th. As expected, the programme captures the zeitgeist of current national and world issues: Immigrants to Isis, Kanye to Corbyn, 1916 to 2020 and more ‘nomics than you can shake a stick at, including: Soccernomics, Quirkenomics, Volkeswagenomics and even Hipsternomics!

Europe’s first economics and comedy festival, Kilkenomics provides a totally unique experience by bringing together some of the world's finest economists and comedians who remove the jargon and elitism from economic and political debate. Described as ‘Davos with Jokes’ (The Australian), this year’s Kilkenomics sees a new principal sponsor in the form of Convex Capital, the return of the FT Weekend as the event’s international media partner and Today FM as national broadcast partner.

Economist and festival co-founder David McWilliams said:  “We are delighted with what is most definitely the strongest line-up yet at Kilkenomics. See you in Kilkenny for the best minds, the best ideas, best discussions and the best craic.'

The 2015 programme has its finger firmly on the pulse of national and international debate. In Exodus: How the Mass Movement of People Will Change Everything You Know, a panel that includes Martin Lousteau, Louise Cooper and Max Keiser looks at the economic implications of unprecedented numbers of refugees arriving on Europe’s doorstep. Writer Gerard Stembridge will oversee a discussion on Economics of Radical Politics: From Kanye to Corbyn and Trump to LePen. What happens if Britain leaves the EU will be debated in Britain’s Difficulty, Ireland’s Opportunity. International funnyman Des Bishop will take part in The Fall of China as well as Cuba Libre: Is It All Over For La Revolucion? A brilliant panel including Vikas Nath will debate Is Obama’s legacy Donald Trump? while Jeremy Corbyn’s economic advisor, Richard Murphy, reveals all inThe Joy of Tax.

What happens when the 100,000 Irish who have emigrated to Oz return home will be addressed in What’s Up Down Under?: The Future of Australia while a diverse group featuring David McWilliams, Cormac Lucey and Ronan Lyons will debate 1916: The Biggest Economic Disaster to Ever Happen Ireland. Looking to the future, a brilliant panel of global experts will debate 2020 Vision: The World In The Next Five Years. Restaurant critic Ross Golden-Bannon is part of a group that discusses The Economics of Food while Kilkenny Court House is the appropriate host venue for Economics on Trial.

There should be plenty of debate throughout The Economics of Journalism and the Media, in which Colm O'Regan, Declan Kiberd, Larry Elliott and Caroline Daniel examine why billionaires go to such lengths to own and control media and ask if our mainstream media is “biased and rigged”. And, as auction politics begins in earnest, Kevin Gildea, Declan Kiberd, Cormac Lucey, Constantin Gurdgiev and Stephen Kinsella will present Ireland - the best little democracy money can buy!

Expect strong demand too for Gillian Tett In Conversation With David McWilliams. The British author and award-winning journalist at the Financial Times has won a slew of awards, including Columnist of the Year (2014), Journalist of the Year (2009) and Business Journalist of the Year (2008) by the British Press Awards. In 2010, The Daily Beast asked 'Is Gillian Tett The Most Powerful Woman in Newspapers?” Don’t miss this!

Kilkenomics stalwarts making a welcome return for the sixth edition include leading economic commentators David McWilliams, Constantin Gurdgiev, Cormac Lucey, Stephen Kinsella, Peter Antonioni, Bill Black and Martin Lousteau. They are joined by comics Des Bishop, Karl Spain, Barry Murphy, Dermot Whelan, Kevin Kildea and Colm O’Regan.

Lighter programme ‘gems’ this year include:

Soccernomics: How the Premiership Could Go Bust.

Jargon Busting Returns: This Time It’s Interpersonal

I Wasn’t Always Like This, You Know – Economists on what they do when they’re not economising

Mergers & Acquisitions: The Economics of Marriage

Quirkenomics: Oddities that Shouldn’t Make Sense, But Do

Paddy Cullivan’s ‘Solutionism’

Does Money Really Make You Happy?: How Much Is Enough

Tickets for Kilkenomics 2015 are available online from tomorrow (Friday 2nd October at 9am) at www.kilkenomics.com. Join the discussion on Twitter via @kilkenomics using #kilkenomics