Hair of the Dog?

Nat O'Connor: If you read nothing else about the global forces that shape Ireland's economic future, you should read Michael O'Sullivan's essay in the Dublin Review of Books: Hair of the Dog?

Teasers: "the global economic and investment climate are now marked by the emergence of trends, policies and behaviours that would have been seen as radical before the financial crisis but which are now accepted as normal" ... "the Irish economy is beginning to recover, but there is also a sense that like the early 2000s it is the crucible for the spillovers of many of the forces acting on the world economy" ... "For a small open economy, the trend growth rate is bounded by the health of international trade, the attractiveness of the business climate and the extent to which there is structural growth in domestic business creation. In this respect Ireland is much better off than many of its euro zone neighbours like France, but this means that it should enjoy a long-term growth rate of close to 2 per cent rather than below 1 per cent. Expectations of sustained growth in a range of 4 per cent to 8 per cent are fallacious, and in recent economic history have only been achieved in a post-crisis environment by the likes of Hong Kong and Singapore, piggybacking on Chinese growth."