With inflation dropping to its lowest levels in two years across the euro zone, 10 straight interest rate hikes from the European Central Bank seem to be having the desired effect. But attention now turns to stagnating growth across the bloc, with GDP (gross domestic product) falling by 0.1 per cent between July and September. And with Ireland having the largest quarterly decline in GDP (-1.8 per cent) in the third quarter, the State’s highly volatile GDP numbers were cited as one of the factors in the overall decline. As Cliff Taylor explains, Ireland “had an extraordinary run, we’re returning to earth”.And Ciarán Hancock is also joined on this episode by Irish Times business and technology journalist, Ciara O’Brien, to discuss three companies facing different challenges - X, formerly known as Twitter, has been making headlines as it is now reportedly worth less than half of what Elon Musk paid for the company a year ago. Elsewhere, Web Summit have appointed former chief executive of the Wikimedia Foundation, Katherine Maher, as their new chief executive. Maher’s appointment comes after the recent resignation of former CEO Paddy Cosgrave, following the backlash to comments he made on social media on the conflict in Gaza.And one of Dublin’s biggest office tenants, WeWork, are planning to file for bankruptcy, accord to reports in the US. The office sharing group is reportedly struggling with a massive debt pile and hefty losses.Produced by John Casey, with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.