Ireland's Exports Keep the Economy Afloat

Poor, battered Ireland. It built an educated, affordable workforce, lowered taxes to lure investment, prospered, and in a move that inspired national pride, adopted the euro.

Then it all unraveled. Irish banks started to back one wild real estate development after another. Those ventures flopped in 2008. The loans went sour, and the Irish government had to rescue the banking industry. Ireland needed a bailout itself in 2010, requesting €67.5 billion ($85.7 billion) from the International Monetary Fund and members of the euro area. Taking the money meant accepting austerity: The government has cut expenditures by 15 percent over three years, consumer spending has dropped for six straight quarters, and young Irish by the thousands have emigrated to Australia and elsewhere.