The Irish Model

[our_man]

Originally posted by MikeH
This thread needs more hot irish chick pictures - fact

I'm in a hurry, but here's a quick one of Grainne Seoige - she's a news presenter.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by CerberusIV
Seriously, Ireland has done a good job of attracting investment since it joined the EU. Northern Ireland (and to some extent the border counties of the Republic) have done less well.

When did it join the EU?

Seems to me that Ireland had some natural advantages (English native language, a literate society, overseas business connections, geographic location, unaffected by the devastation of WWII) that should have led it develop economically at an earlier stage.

A major disadvantage is the loss of risk takers through emmigration (people who emmigrate are by nature risk takers) which leads to a diminished entrepreneurial class. But then why economic development occur in the past 20-odd years and not before?

I don't have the answers, but it seems to be an interesting question.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by our_man
In my view one of the major reasons Ireland took off in the 90's is due to reform of the tax system and intense privatization: the removal of government barriers that previously stilted growth.

Common explanation, but there are societies with high tax rates that still have strong economies.

[our_man]

Common explanation, but there are societies with high tax rates that still have strong economies.

True; I guess the situation which allowed Ireland to prosper in the '90's was multi-factorial, although I still believe that reducing the tax rate was the major crux. Some people even claim it was Italia '90 or the success of U2 (I've seen some of the '80's documentaries where people believed U2 could solve all of Ireland's problems!) that created the positive mental attitude in the country that allowed us to acheive.

Seems to me that Ireland had some natural advantages (English native language, a literate society, overseas business connections, geographic location, unaffected by the devastation of WWII) that should have led it develop economically at an earlier stage.

There's an old maxim: when England sneezes, Ireland catches a cold. You'll have to look at the economics outside of the country to fully appreciate the upturns in the Irish economy at various points. We're very reliant on the UK & world economy, even more so now.

As a point of interest, Ireland wasn't always a basket case until the '90's. During the 1960's the country underwent tremendous economic growth too, but this petered out with the various economic crises of the 1970's.