What should Ireland’s government do with a huge budget surplus?
The country’s economy has long been prone to manic mood swings
Bloated by the offshore profits of global corporations, the Irish economy has long been prone to manic mood swings. In 2016 Paul Krugman, an economist and commentator, coined the phrase “leprechaun economics” to describe a surge of 26% in Ireland’s GDP that was later found to have been caused largely by accounting changes at Apple, one of several American tech and pharma giants that book much of their global profits in Ireland.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Splurge or hoard?”
Europe October 7th 2023
- After a brutal campaign, Poland gets ready to vote
- Slovakia gives pro-Russian populist nationalism another win
- Ukraine prepares for winter again as Russia targets its power grid
- Spain’s Socialists are struggling to recover power
- What should Ireland’s government do with a huge budget surplus?
- Europe is stuck in a need-hate relationship with migrants
From the October 7th 2023 edition
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