Course Title
"Assessing the Growth Potential of Ireland: Overcoming the Data Fog of Globalization"
Faculty
Leslie Robinson, Professor of Business Administration
Destination Cities
Dublin, Galway, and Cork (subject to change)
Course Description
In 2015, Ireland reported real GDP growth of over 25%. Although it used the standard method for calculating its economic activity, this report generated incredulity and gave rise to the controversial phrase “leprechaun economics,” which has been contested by the Irish as derogatory and shallow. Ireland had encountered a limitation of national accounts, which measure the economic activity of a nation. They were originally developed for a pre–Second World War economy in which goods and services were produced within individual countries without substantial inputs from abroad. The modern world, in which goods and services for final demand are produced in stages across a range of countries involving a complicated supply chain, poses special problems for national accounts. The challenge in understanding the behavior of the Irish economy owes much to the fact that its national accounts data have been overtaken by a very dense globalization fog. We will study the nature and magnitude of the historical distortion of Irish economic data caused by Ireland’s industrial policies, including its favorable tax regime. We will compare traditional indicators of economic prosperity to the reality of Ireland’s domestic economy. Do the indictors line up and which factors explain Ireland’s growth? We will bring it all together to assess and debate Ireland’s growth story over the past two decades, and its impact on Irish people. At the same time, we will explore the culture of Ireland including its language, literature, music, folklore, and cuisine.