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Is Ireland really the role model for austerity?

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  • Stephen Kinsella

Abstract

This paper describes the causes and consequences of Ireland's economic crisis in the context of the policy solution implemented to contain that crisis: protracted fiscal austerity. I describe the causes of the recent crisis in Ireland and look at the logic of austerity with a simple model. I compare the current crisis to the crisis of the 1980s, when fiscal austerity was touted as the trigger for the Celtic Tiger. I discuss the measures implemented to date in the current crisis, tracing their effects on sectors of Ireland's macroeconomy. I show that Ireland is not the role model for austerity policies. Copyright The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved., Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen Kinsella, 2012. "Is Ireland really the role model for austerity?," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 36(1), pages 223-235.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cambje:v:36:y:2012:i:1:p:223-235
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cje/ber032
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    1. Alberto Alesina & Roberto Perotti & José Tavares, 1998. "The Political Economy of Fiscal Adjustments," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 29(1), pages 197-266.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hamid Raza & Bjorn Gudmundsson & Gylfi Zoega & Stephen Kinsella, 2016. "Two thorns of experience: financialisation in Iceland and Ireland," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(6), pages 771-789, November.
    2. Stephen Kinsella, 2014. "Post-bailout Ireland as the Poster Child for Austerity," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 15(02), pages 20-25, April.
    3. Ahuja, Rishi & Barrett, Sean & Corbet, Shaen & Larkin, Charles, 2019. "A way forward: The future of Irish and European union financial regulation," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 346-360.
    4. David Howden, 2013. "Separating the Wheat from the Chaff: Icelandic and Irish Policy Responses to the Banking Crisis," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 348-360, October.
    5. Perugini, Cristiano & Žarković Rakić, Jelena & Vladisavljević, Marko, 2016. "Austerity and gender wage inequality in EU countries," MPRA Paper 76306, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Christos Pierros, 2021. "Assessing the internal devaluation policy implemented in Greece in an empirical stock‐flow consistent model," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(4), pages 905-943, November.
    7. Stephen Kinsella, 2013. "Was Ireland's Celtic Tiger Period Profit-led or Wage-led?," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 572-585, October.
    8. Alberto Botta, 2014. "Structural asymmetries at the roots of the eurozone crisis: what's new for industrial policy in the EU?," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 67(269), pages 169-216.
    9. Laurence, James & Sprong, Stefanie & McGinnity, Frances & Russell, Helen & Hingre, Garance, 2024. "Changing social and political attitudes in Ireland and Northern Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS170.
    10. Eoin O’Neill & Michael Brennan & Finbarr Brereton & Harutyun Shahumyan, 2015. "Exploring a spatial statistical approach to quantify flood risk perception using cognitive maps," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 76(3), pages 1573-1601, April.
    11. Philipp Heimberger, 2024. "Fiscal consolidation and its growth effects in euro area countries: Past, present and future outlook," wiiw Working Papers 253, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    12. Hamid Raza & Bjorn Gudmundsson & Stephen Kinsella & Gylfi Zoega, 2015. "Experiencing financialisation in small open economies: An empirical investigation of Ireland and Iceland," Working papers wpaper84, Financialisation, Economy, Society & Sustainable Development (FESSUD) Project.
    13. Constantinos Alexiou & Joseph G. Nellis, 2013. "Challenging the Raison d’etre of Internal Devaluation in the Context of the Greek Economy," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 60(6), pages 813-836, December.
    14. Aidan Regan & Samuel Brazys, 2017. "Celtic phoenix or leprechaun economics? The politics of an FDI led growth model in Europe," Working Papers 201701, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    15. Kinsella, Stephen, 2019. "Visualising economic crises using accounting models," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 1-16.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E00 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - General
    • E30 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E63 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy; Stabilization; Treasury Policy

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