Well of course he didn’t ! What sort of daft muppet would argue that house price inflation and easy credit was a great basis for economic stability ?

Someone who abolished boom and bust? I think we will agree not to differ on this point.

However reverting to your initial post, I don’t think it is unreasonably to draw the conclusion that you were implying that Osborne supported their then economic policy in its entirety, which there appears to be no support for.

I don’t think it is unreasonably to draw the conclusion that you were implying…..

I am not implying anything – I am telling you straight, : Osborne was wrong.
Let me repeat that : Osborne was wrong.

There was no “Irish miracle”. And the “three lessons” were not about Education, R&D, and low corporation tax. Because despite everything Osborne said, Ireland was not better placed economically than Britain and other countries. In fact, the complete opposite has been shown to be true – Ireland is much worst placed than other countries, including Britain.

So what Osborne was saying in 2006 about Ireland was clearly complete bollox, ie, despite Education, R&D, and low corporation tax, your economy can still go tits up…….big time.

Let me remind you just how precise his words were :

“Ireland stands as a shining example of the art of the possible in long-term economic policymaking” George Osborne 2006

And he has been wrong about the Irish economy since then too ….. as he has heaped praise on their strict austerity programme – the same strict austerity programme which has helped them to dig themselves into an even deeper hole, cumulating in this week’s crises.

And of course time will eventually show that he was completely wrong about Britain too. Still, he won’t worry too much about that, as he will have achieved what he always intended to.

Well said ernie

it doesn’t matter what he said in 2006 – this crisis was unforseeable then. the banks hadn’t collapsed yet and america was still dishing out sub-primes like sweets to children on halloween!

besides, surely he will still get his peerage regardless of his mis-placed praise of a fundamentally flawed economic policy!?

this crisis was unforseeable then

I think many would beg to differ. Greed, incompetence, and previous property bubbles which have been known to burst, all suggests that the crises was both foreseeable and avoidable.

And unless of course, you had bought into theory that Capitalism had finally rid itself of the shackles of “boom and bust”. Didn’t think Osborne had though.

I disagree – the growth achieved by Ireland was pretty spectacular – 6% to 11% each year for nearly a decade, much of which was export led, we dream of such numbers. They caught up with us and then overtook us. Clearly, mistakes were made but to suggest that no lessons can be learned from what they did achieve is frankly ridiculous. If they were not within the Euro they would have more weapons to confront their present position. Unfortunately, they don’t and therefore many of the gains made could well be lost. However, they still likely to be well ahead of where they would have been without that growth before the construction boom.

I disagree – the growth achieved by Ireland was pretty spectacular

Who are you disagreeing with ?

Ireland’s growth was indeed spectacular…………as was it’s collapse.

BTW it really is hard to overstate just how serious the situation concerning the Irish economy is.
And it isn’t just serious on paper, it is serious in real life, affecting real people, and causing real misery.

Furthermore mefty, it is pointless you banging on “6% to 11% each year for nearly a decade, much of which was export led” when the link you yourself provide (and therefore presumably trust) from the World Bank, very clearly states :

“from about 2000 the character of the growth changed: a property price and construction bubble took hold”

So for the majority of the decade, ie 2000-2007, growth was fuelled by a property bubble.

And this is precisely the same period in which George Osborne described the Irish economy as a “shining example” which we should “emulate”.

.

Clearly, mistakes were made but to suggest that no lessons can be learned from what they did achieve is frankly ridiculous.

Who is suggesting that no lessons can be learnt ?

There are a whole multitude of extremely valuable lessons to be learnt. Amongst them are, that achieving the lowest corporation tax rates in the EU does not guarantee you long term economic stability (note that the present UK government is committed to slashing corporation tax) That achieving high levels of growth based on meaningless fictitious capital and property bubbles, also does not guarantee you long term economic stability – better to rely on tangible assets with real value. Neither does achieving impressive levels of education guarantee you economic stability – note the historically high levels (for many years) of those in further education in the UK, despite it not translating into high and sustained levels of growth. As I have said before on here …… someone somewhere has to produce something, for wealth to be created.

We can also learn from Ireland that when faced with a downturn, opting for extremely severe austerity measures, rather than a sensibly planned fiscal stimulus, simply makes a very bad situation even worst.

But perhaps the most important lesson we can learn, is not to trust George Osborne’s judgement on matters concerning long term economic stability. Not that Osborne’s definition of a sound economy is the same as most people mind. I have no doubt at all that Osborne would be absolutely thrilled if Britain had a low-wage high unemployment economy which was churning out high profits.

But you choose to ignore what he said he should emulate, other than low corporation tax – your views are often are interesting, I disagree with many of them – but cherry picking quotes out of context is pure spin that you so often denigrate.

We are going to disagree on corporation tax rates, I believe low rates attract outside investment which generates jobs which generates tax revenue. You will no doubt argue that it only panders to the global multinationals etc etc.

Education is important and it will prove to be a worthwhile investment, if done well, whether an all time high of people in higher education is the right measure to its effectiveness, I would question, I think you might as well.

But, as far as Ireland having a fiscal stimulus when they started cutting expenditure, where were they going to get the money from? Who was going to pay for it?

So in short, Osborne seems to have drawn sensible lessons, in my view, from the good that Ireland achieved. He was also probably right about Irish spending cuts because there was very little alternative – who was going to lend?

you choose to ignore what he said he should emulate

No I didn’t. Look up there ^^ (second post from the top) I mention the 3 things which he said we should emulate.

I simply don’t agree that it provides, as he suggested, with a, quote : “Irish miracle” and a “shining example of the art of the possible in long-term economic policymaking”

Events have shown that he was wrong.

OK, apologies you did, if you believe that construction boom and the building of tangible assets was responsible for Ireland’s downfall as I do – events have not proved him wrong.

Regarding, the fiscal stimulus, where was the money going to come from?