Posted by Kelly Fincham at 3/22/2009 6:21 PM EDT

So, the Economist reckons the Irish economy has gone over the edge of a cliff. Not hard to disagree with them. I've just heard that the second "social" phases of two huuuuge developments in my home town have been put on hold. Surely it doesn't take an English magazine to see that the numbers never added up. Drogheda has added literally thousands of houses with no concurrent increase in any sort of infrastructure. The Lourdes hospital is stretched to its breaking point, there are waiting lists for every school and public spending is at a standstill. The problems are many and the solutions are few.