Economist Leader on Ireland

nesf

http://www.economist.com/node/18178137?story_id=18178137&CFID=162731402&CFTOKEN=33816197

A dispassionate and non-alarmist look at Ireland's current situation.


And a longer Briefing article on Ireland: http://www.economist.com/node/18176072?story_id=18176072&CFID=162731402&CFTOKEN=33816197

Interesting reading again. The first is definitely available without a subscription, not sure about the briefing.

Anonymous1987

Don't forget the in-dept article on how we got here, the economy, europe and the political system. Perhaps I'm living up the Celtic stereotype but the looming spectre of the banks and the financial system is omitted, perhaps we should be thankful for the sake of our international reputation.

PeterIanStaker

I'm probably one of the most cynical people you'll meet, but I do think both articles offer a sort of hope, in their own way.The incoming Govt should read this sh!t if they haven't already. However, neither mentions a possible default by Ireland and its potential consequences.

nesf

PeterIanStaker wrote: »

I'm probably one of the most cynical people you'll meet, but I do think both articles offer a sort of hope, in their own way.The incoming Govt should read this sh!t if they haven't already. However, neither mentions a possible default by Ireland and its potential consequences.

Well I value these kinds of articles because the writers and magazine have no stake in our politics or our country and thus are not going to be coming from a hidden angle. That said, if you're of the hard left persuasion the Economist is not exactly a good read, though I know quite a few people on the left who find the magazine interesting and its analysis good even when they don't necessarily agree with its proposed solutions to problems most of the time.

zig

This is one bit that stuck out for me that ive often thought to myself, its something that we shouldnt look at too lightly.

A generation has grown up knowing nothing but prosperity. This accumulation of expectation and experience makes Ireland a very different country from the weary, fearful place of the mid-1980s.

I believe stagnation and low expectancy is a negative self fulfilling prophecy. If you take all the people that dont leave the country that are now in their mid 20s and come from a middle class area, I cant imagine many of them settling with the idea of 'barely getting by' for the rest of their life.
I think this is extremely important and is one huge factor that we should take out of our boom(fake or not).

nesf

It definitely has an effect. The single biggest reason that I have a decent amount (for my salary) put aside in savings is that I grew up seeing my parents having to save for everything but day to day expenses in the 80s. I imagine that anyone who grew up during the boom years and only say people being able to live comfortably pay cheque to pay cheque might not have this savings culture as ingrained in them unless their parents went out of their way to encourage this.

PeterIanStaker

nesf wrote: »

Well I value these kinds of articles because the writers and magazine have no stake in our politics or our country and thus are not going to be coming from a hidden angle. That said, if you're of the hard left persuasion the Economist is not exactly a good read, though I know quite a few people on the left who find the magazine interesting and its analysis good even when they don't necessarily agree with its proposed solutions to problems most of the time.

That's exactly why it offered me hope Nesf, In my humble/jaded opinion, the media on this island runs on misery, catholic guilt, and postcolonial self-hatred. Nice to see something unblinkered for a change.

zig

hate to the party pooper here, because they are nice well written articles, the first one is particularly refreshing but did anyone find it a bit over optimistic and almost naive, saying stuff like
One priority for the new government ought to be to root out the cronyism (and its linked party financing) that gave property developers too much political influence. But Mr Kenny’s main responsibility is to sustain the policies that first fostered Ireland’s strong growth. These included encouraging more women into work, keeping tax rates low, luring foreign (notably American) direct investment and investing in secondary and higher education. A flexible labour market with sensible trade unions, and an openness to immigration, have also proved critical in enabling Ireland to cut real wages and regain some of the competitiveness it has lost against Germany.

Plus the article doesnt really delve into the kind of debt we are actually getting into here, it briefly mentions it, debt that will result in bigger cuts, lack of stimulus and confidence and all while expecting this 2.75% economic growth for our '4 year' plan. Lets call a spade a spade, the kind of positive expectations that the likes of FG or FF have with that are about as crazy as SFs current policy.

PeterIanStaker

zig wrote: »

Plus the article doesnt really delve into the kind of debt we are actually getting into here, it briefly mentions it, debt that will result in bigger cuts, lack of stimulus and confidence

As I've pointed out, neither does it mention defaulting, which is something that may happen. Also, I can solemnly assure you that I'm in no danger of getting any kind of hope up for the future.