There is a great lesson for the United Kingdom to learn from Ireland's recent economic experience. The high growth rates that led to the term "The Celtic Tiger" had passed their peak when Ireland decided to enter the Euro. But some commentators were then saying entry would be bad because it would result in reduced interest rates at a time when rates should increase to dampen inflationary tendencies arising from that growth. I remember putting that point to a senior Irish official, who assured me of his confidence that Europe would respond if there was a crisis.
There was, however, no response to the subsequent significant increase in inflation. Nor was there a response when the appreciation of the Euro priced Irish goods out of their two main export markets - the UK and the US. These factors were clearly pushing the Irish economy into recession even before the referendum on the Lisbon constitution. But there has been no understanding in Brussels of the economic reasons for the Irish disgruntlement with Europe.
For us it underlines the economic case against the Euro. The United Kingdom is one of the largest economies in the world. Insofar as an economy can be managed, we need to have those levers of power under our control. Above all, if our economy has been mismanaged, we need to be able to turn out the rascals responsible.
These days, I am not so concerned with the opinion polls. But I am very anxious to have a real poll. Gordon Brown has done enormous damage to our economy. This crisis is largely home grown and particularly his responsibility. I want to see this man out of office before he does even more damage. In this New Year we should be pressing for new people to take over, rather than have those who cannot see, let alone admit, their mistakes go on to make even more mistakes.
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