The great economic success story of the past ten years has been the Republic of Ireland, which suffered from a 17 percent unemployment rate in the mid-1980s but enjoyed nearly double-digit economic growth rates in recent years. The Emerald Island serves as a valuable case study to illustrate how large the payoffs can be from better economic policies in the presence of favorable external factors.

James B. Burnham is Murrin Chair of Global Competitiveness at Duquesne University's Donahue Graduate School of Business.
Defense and Foreign PolicyEuropeInternational Economics and Development
Other Independent Review articles by James B. Burnham
Spring 2007 The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good