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IrishCentral editors respond to Krugman rant

New York Times gets it wrong on Ireland and the Irish

By
IRISHCENTRAL.COM EDITORS,
Published Monday, April 20, 2009, 1:24 AM
Updated Thursday, July 23, 2009, 5:39 PM

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The Wolfhound eats Krugman alive - and another anti0ti-Ireland gasbag, too... Click to read

Even more holes in 'Professor' Krugman's Irish fantasy... Click to read

So the grand Pooh-Bah of the U.S. economic scene Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize in tow, has decided to join the chorus condemning Ireland to financial ruin.

Not so fast Mr. Krugman.

In his Monday column in The New York Times he says America could turn Irish, which he says is the worst-case outlook for the world economy.

He cites the property bubble, the tanking tax revenues, the ailing banks and a host of other factors that have turned Ireland into the sick man of Europe.

He has jumped on the merry-go-round that every economist in the world has in an orgy of Irish-bashing that is without parallel.

But I think America would be privileged to turn Irish, Mr. Krugman.

Nowhere in his column has he talked about the Irish people other than as statistics.

That could be because he has never met them, or is ignorant of their history.

What he should know is this.

Yes, things are bad in 2009 in Ireland. But they've seen a lot worse.

Back in the 1840s millions of Irish starved to death in Europe’s worst 19th century genocide as the British stood idly by.

The country recovered and defeated the British.

Not only that, they have endured and overcome more than almost any other nation on earth.

In the 1950s the country had nothing and huge numbers emigrated.

In the 1980s the country was broke again and many more emigrated.

So the Irish, Mr. Krugman, are well used to adversity, the kind you could never possibly imagine from your Ivy League office at Princeton.

This 2009 recession is hardly a blip compared to some of the great tragedies of the past. This too will be overcome.

He doesn't mention for instance, Ireland's greatest success story - the creation of peace in the North.

In fact, Ireland was so successful in getting sworn enemies to lay down their weapons and talk to each other that the model is now being used in other places.

Just today, the Times of London reports on a new Israeli/Palestinian initiative, which is creating a space for suicide bombers and soldiers to make peace.

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See more: irish news , irish politics , anti-irish , krugman , ireland , economy
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