Ex-Irish PM John Bruton Assesses 'The Fall of the Celtic Tiger' for The Wild Geese

NEW YORK - Aug. 27, 2013 - PRLog -- John Bruton, Ireland's Taoiseach (Prime Minister) from 1994 to 1997 and twice its Minister of Finance during a previous Irish economic downturn, offers his unique perspective on Ireland's recent economic collapse in a critique of the newly published The Fall of the Celtic Tiger: How Ireland fell into the Abyss (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0199663955/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=thewildgeeset-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=0199663955&adid=1JFW1H2ASNYV6GTMC1Q6) by Donal Donovan, a former World Bank economist, and Antoin E. Murphy, an economic historian.  The two-part commentary was written by Bruton for the popular Irish history and heritage online community The Wild Geese, (http://thenewwildgeese.com/) Part 1 having just been published, with Part Two scheduled to appear there Wednesday.

"The authors give a totally convincing account of how today’s problem came about. In its pages, they chronicle how solid, sustainable growth from 1994 to 2000, based on real improvements in Irish market competitiveness, along with increased investment, was transformed into artificial growth, based on unsustainable borrowing- and spending decisions by Irish families, Irish businesses and Irish governments," Bruton wrote in Part 1 of the review.

Bruton notes the property bubble spurred by cheap credit, rapidly rising property prices, an unsustainable growth in both the construction industry and the public sector, misallocation of human created a radical distortion of Ireland's economic structures, and in his review makes a chilling prediction for how long it will be before Ireland makes a full recovery.

Bruton concludes the first installment with, "The assumption of the bankers lending this money seemed to be that demand for housing could go on growing, to infinity. A moment’s thought would have shown how nonsensical that was. But almost nobody took a moment to think."

In Part 2, Bruton analyzes the two fatal tendencies of Irish policymaking that the authors of The Fall of The Celtic Tiger identify -- “silo tendencies” within institutions, where people only think about their own immediate responsibilities, and a “consensus approach,” which encourages a single view to be taken of any issue.

"We are delighted to incorporate John Bruton's perspectives on books regularly in our growing content mix," notes Gerry Regan, co-founder and executive producer of the recently launched community. "It's very heady including the work of a former Taoiseach, now a colleague who shares our admiration for the Irish experience. And as many of our members have taken a big hit from the bust, we’ve created an online forum (http://thenewwildgeese.com/forum/topics/demise-of-the-cel...) as a place to share their stories and opinions.

"The growing numbers of members, the sophistication of our conversations, the fun, the warmth members have come to convey for each other, and Ireland -- all this feels emblematic of the momentum The Wild Geese now has as the only online community focused on exploring and celebrating the epic heritage of the Irish ... worldwide. As we find ourselves saying more and more each day, ‘Come join us. The only voice missing is yours.’"

Read Part 1 at http://thenewwildgeese.com/profiles/blogs/the-fall-of-the-celtic-tiger-how-ireland-nearly-fell-into-the-aby