I’ve written an article for The Telegraph about the Irish budgetary and financial crisis. Because Ireland’s state spending was so high, it mistakenly earned the image of making austere cuts last year, when in reality the government is running a massive 12 percent structural deficit, the highest in the EU. Its decision to bail out the Irish banks will cost it at least £50bn this year, creating a total budget deficit of 32 percent and this seems likely to increase next year. So far, every person in Ireland owes €9,000 to bail out the banks, and I argue that this policy was a mistake – better to let the banks fall, to leave the euro and to set the country in a positive direction with a more responsible and limited government.
