The CPA Outlook Index, an equally weighted, nine-component measure of sentiment, remained in positive territory, falling from 73 points to 67 points out of 100, but it was the fourth consecutive quarterly decline in economic outlook.
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In autumn 2017, U2 released their 14th studio album, Songs of Experience. Critical reception on the album was mixed – was it a superstar older rock band’s attempt at political relevance, or a late-career classic infused with the urgency of Brexit, Trump, and a world thrown into uncertainty? In December 2017, the band offered up a dynamic, uncomfortable performance as answer – giving Irish Americans much to contemplate in the current political age as to what activism can look like in specifically Irish and Irish American contexts.
On December 2, the band performed their newly-released song “American Soul” on Saturday Night Live. Having collaborated on the album track with the socially conscious American hip-hop genius of the moment, Kendrick Lamar, they burst forth with a powerful activist performance that harkened back to their 1970s Dublin punk roots and took an unabashedly pro-immigrant stance. On this night, Bono sang live from New York of sanctuary and “re