Irish financial crisis has lessons for Americans
Published in The Tennessean , Sunday, November 28, 2010 Irish financial crisis has lessons for Americans by Richard J. Grant The current Irish financial crisis offers lessons to Americans. First, we can learn a lot about fiscal prudence and economic growth from the preceding Irish history. Through the mid-20th century the Irish, like their British neighbors, abandoned common sense in favor of the pseudo-intellectual promises of socialism (what we call “progressivism”). The role of state involvement in their lives grew and their economies stagnated. Just as the Thatcher revolution pulled Britain back from the precipice and restored, at least temporarily, the people's dignity, the Irish went one better. They cut government spending and tax rates aggressively. They removed trade restrictions and brought down their inflation rate. As a small country, with a population just under 4.5 million, they needed to offer clear advantages to business in order to stand out from the crowd. They le