Not long ago, Ireland was in recession and languishing through massive unemployment to the tune of one lost job every five minutes. Yet as outlined by the Wall Street Journal, a 2.7 percent bump in GDP as it relates to Ireland’s export market is an official sign of the end of recession. But the overall consensus among experts is that Ireland has a long road to travel before they reach economic recovery. One of the hardest-hit euro zone countries within the recent global recession, Ireland’s GDP had fallen by more than 14 percent entering 2010. Prime Minister Brian Cowen is urging Ireland to be prepared for hard times for the next 10 to 15 years.
Investors can help Ireland through the recession
. Investors are downcast and guaranteed loan borrowing continues to fly, both of which has made things tough for the Dublin brain trust. Ireland’s primary goal is to restore investor confidence through deficit reduction, but higher taxes, lower salaries for public workers and also the fallout of the burst housing bubble – including an uptick origination of low cost loans – have made it difficult for Ireland’s population to wait patiently.
Exports to save the day
Ireland attracted companies like Intel, Microsoft, Facebook and LinkedIn to address previous recessionary woes, but this time, the Irish government is depending upon an export revival, as outlined by the Times. When lower public wages and energy costs might have helped somewhat, the fear that the export market won’t create enough jobs – not to mention fear for the falling euro – is very real, writes the Times. In fact, wage cuts have driven young workers away. Irish college grads do not want to wait 10 to 15 years for instant money.
The long, hard road to economic recovery via tough deficit reduction may be the only way that Ireland will escape recession. But it will likely not happen fast enough for Irish voters in the next election. Prime Minister Cowen hopes his promise not to cut public salaries any more can be enough to conserve him, but it appears doubtful. Irish voters may not be able to wait any longer.
Discover more about this topic here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703426004575338433422665358.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/business/global/29austerity.html?hp=&pagewanted=all
