Irish Ambassador to the States acts the clown!

Irish Ambassador to the United States Daniel Mulhall has described the use of the word “leprechaun” by a Nobel Prize-winning economist as an “unacceptable slur”. Mr Mulhall was responding to a column in the New York Times by Paul Krugman who coined the phrase “leprechaun economics” to describe Ireland’s tax policies relating to multinationals.

The phrase, which is now generally used to describe how transfer pricing can distort national accounts, has stuck.

..................................... Returning to the theme in his New York Times column this week, Mr Krugman suggested the distortion in Ireland’s GDP may have been caused by Apple booking its profits in Ireland.

“How big a deal was this? On paper, Ireland’s gross domestic product suddenly jumped 25 per cent, even though nothing real had changed – a phenomenon I dubbed ‘leprechaun economics’, a term that has stuck. (Fortunately, the Irish have a sense of humour.)”

However, Mr Mulhall responded with a letter to the New York Times, saying: “I do not go along with Mr Krugman’s disingenuous excuse that ‘the Irish have a sense of humour’ about his attacks on us. While I am always happy to engage in serious debate about Ireland’s economic performance, derogatory references in a leading newspaper like yours are no laughing matter.