Thomas Friedman on Ireland--2nd richest country in Europe

[Maeve]

Thought y'all might want to see this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/29/opinion/29friedman.html

Here's something you probably didn't know: Ireland today is the richest country in the European Union after Luxembourg.

Yes, the country that for hundreds of years was best known for emigration, tragic poets, famines, civil wars and leprechauns today has a per capita G.D.P. higher than that of Germany, France and Britain. How Ireland went from the sick man of Europe to the rich man in less than a generation is an amazing story. It tells you a lot about Europe today: all the innovation is happening on the periphery by those countries embracing globalization in their own ways - Ireland, Britain, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe - while those following the French-German social model are suffering high unemployment and low growth.

Ireland's turnaround began in the late 1960's when the government made secondary education free, enabling a lot more working-class kids to get a high school or technical degree. As a result, when Ireland joined the E.U. in 1973, it was able to draw on a much more educated work force.
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The results have been phenomenal. Today, 9 out of 10 of the world's top pharmaceutical companies have operations here, as do 16 of the top 20 medical device companies and 7 out of the top 10 software designers. Last year, Ireland got more foreign direct investment from America than from China. And overall government tax receipts are way up.
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[Henny Penny]

1. I think we are a hybrid of both "old" and "new"

Europe and it will be interesting to see how it turns out.

We are like the US and the UK in that we tend to get big mortgages to buy our own homes and so there is a massive property bubble waiting to burst.

Also like the US and the UK we have very bad public transport, but this is largely because we did not (and could not) invest in it in the past. This is changing and most people would very much aspire to a French/German system here.

Equally with respect to social welfare, pensions and even health care we take the "old European view", though with very limited success in health care where we spend an awful lot but years of bad management and bureaucracy always seem to negate this.

[Maeve]

2. Ah, but your property is worth it!

Rather fell in love with Ireland (enough to want to move there when the kids are grown). The modernization is uneven, and you get some of the bad with the good, but overall, the progress is amazing.

Can I ask where you are located?

[Henny Penny]

3. I am in Meath. So lots of both ancient and new stuff around here!

[Maeve]

4. Hope the roadway by Tara doesn't overly modernize the ancient!

Never got over there (just a day trip to Dublin, the rest of the time in the west), but I try to follow the news as best I can.

My part of Ohio has many ancient man-made mounds and we've had some developer vs historian fights, too.

[Henny Penny]

5. yes the new road is a worry!

[Another Bill C.]

6. Back in '78

I met an old man in Macken's in Slane. His name was Tom Cassidy and he spent the evening telling me tales of the "old days." He said he once owned the land on which Newgrange was found. He said when he picked up a handful of soil and let it run through his fingers, he could feel the history in it. Now, they're going to pave over that soil.

You can picture the road running through here:


I've never forgotten Tom and have often wished I could listen to his stories once more.

My family comes from Westmeath (Belfield and Kilbeggan).

Slan,
Bill

[Maeve]

7. Nice shot, Bill!

I finally set up my pics of Ireland to cycle thru as a screen-saver (Hubby took over 700!). Now I kinda want to just sit here and let the computer idle...

[Kellanved]

8. huh?

"while those following the French-German social model are suffering high unemployment and low growth."

Hats off to Ireland and the EU for making it possible, but the above line is one of the dumbest things I've read today. The author obviously hasn't looked up the unemployment stats for eastern Europe (nor has he ever been there...), nor has he any understanding of the central European problems at all.
Contrary to the myth, the problem is not only structural inflexibility or high taxes (other countries are far more inflexible, even the US hasn't lower taxes).
Most of it can be chalked up the German reunification; France got caught in the monetary problem created by it.
For instance, Western Germany alone would still do very well in the European comparison.

[Maeve]

9. Yeah, he also says speaking English is a key to success

I wish I had a really cool Irish line for right here, but I don't right now! :D

Friedman can be an ass, but I wanted to highlight the overall good report on Ireland.

[Kellanved]

10. Yup, Ireland is amazing

And Friedman is amazingly dumb. He should consider that Germany is the world's biggest exporter (bigger then the oh-so-global US ;-) ); no other country comes close when it comes to globalization.

[Tweed]

11. Interesting how Friedman leaves out...

the part about universal health care at the end as a recipe for success... What a surprise... :eyes:

Great article though, it shows that a successful business model comes from both liberal and conservative ideas. I'd be interested in learning more about Ireland's typical attitude towards corporate subsidies.