Austerity Hawks Lose Their Celtic Poster Child: Matthew Lynn
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What does a country need to do to make a success of the euro? The European Commission and the European Central Bank would say the recipe is simple: Cut your budget deficit, slash wages, keep taxes competitive, boost your exports, and live with austerity.
There is just one problem: Ireland has been following precisely that formula and it hasn’t done much good. The government is being squeezed at a time when the cost of bank bailouts is soaring. Blame it on the banks.