How Tom Friedman got the Irish crisis all wrong

Everybody's an authority! Friedman is just an horses ass like so many of the other journalists.

The comment by seanmusmoore got to the heart of the matter.

Dan Breen has it right! Friedman should write about Israel not Ireland!

Friedman is Friedman. The New York Times is becoming somewhat of a joke as far as journalism is concerned. How often do they have to make up stories before people stop reading it. Friedman's overall orientation is quite liberal, but it is also very globally oriented, which, if you consider the future may be the same thing.

Apparently there are differences of opinion regarding almost everything. "greedy corporations"...If you are a stockholder, i.e. owner, of a corporation you better hope the management leaves high cost areas to go to lower cost areas..i.e. Ireland to Poland...if your company is to survive. THAT folks is basic economics forever, except to Marx and company who somehow didn't think labor costs should be a factor in decision making...of course Marxists have NEVER been successful in creating a real economy using that idea.

Kay fails to point out that Ireland's competitiveness drastically suffered as a result of the adoption of the euro in 2000. In 1997, Ireland's cost of living was 15%below the EU average, by 2005 it was the most expensive in the EU, save Luxemborg. That's why Dell left for Poland.

Just another elitist talking head.

he is a gobshite

don't knock - tribe can do no wrong - world. they'll come out with barrels a-blazing. just you wait 'enry 'iggins.

To Tom/Peggy - I've read four of Tom Friedman's books and I don't get the impression that he is liberal. He has some ideas that liberals like and some that conservatives do. His citing liking Ireland because it was easier to fire an employee definitely does not sound like a liberal idea. To me, his current main theme primarily seems to be: prepare for the future because somebody else is. If we don't do it best, we won't be the best in the future. Friedman tosses out ideas in his books in great abundance, and obviously no one is always right. I'd like someone to address the thought that I read (maybe on this website) or heard that Ireland was actually in pretty good economic shape until they decided to bail out the banks. The amount of the bailout escalated until it became a crushing amount for a country that size.

Tom Friedman the very liberal thinker. That explains how he gets awards and is almost always wrong.

They should be more upset with Dell, and other greedy corporations, than a mere columnist. All developed countries need to re-think the globalization scheme: seems to me all it's done is export jobs and manufacturing overseas, driven down wages and increased unemployment. Don't even get me started on mass immigration of cheap labor.

Must be slow news day.?