Ireland is world's seventh freest economy - report

[TheBear]

From Ireland.com:

• Ireland's economy has been ranked seventh in a survey of the world's freest economies.
  
  The finding came in the latest Index of Economic Freedom survey for 2007, conducted by the Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation.
  
  Using new methodological detail, Ireland is ranked 2nd out of 41 countries in the European region, behind only the United Kingdom, with a score of 81.3 per cent - much higher than the regional average.
  
  The authors identify labour freedom as Ireland's weakest area. "As in many other European nations, generous labour laws mean that employment is not as flexible as it should be for maximum job creation and sectoral dynamics.
  
  "Government spending as a proportion of GDP is also a disincentive. Even though tariffs are low, non-trade barriers reduce Ireland's trade freedom score."
  
  Ireland scores highly when it comes to business freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom, monetary freedom, property rights, and freedom from corruption.
  
  Entrepreneurship is made easy in Ireland because Government has a "light regulatory hand". It also notes that "distortionary EU agricultural subsidies" are undermining the country's monetary score, however.
  
  Asia again topped a survey which ranks the world's freest economies in 2007, with Hong Kong in first place and Singapore in second position.

More on this report can be found at The Heritage Index, and there is also a detailed page on Ireland.

[PAUL MEYER]

From Ireland.com:

• Ireland's economy has been ranked seventh in a survey of the world's freest economies.
  
  The finding came in the latest Index of Economic Freedom survey for 2007, conducted by the Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation.
  
  Using new methodological detail, Ireland is ranked 2nd out of 41 countries in the European region, behind only the United Kingdom, with a score of 81.3 per cent - much higher than the regional average.
  
  The authors identify labour freedom as Ireland's weakest area. "As in many other European nations, generous labour laws mean that employment is not as flexible as it should be for maximum job creation and sectoral dynamics.
  
  "Government spending as a proportion of GDP is also a disincentive. Even though tariffs are low, non-trade barriers reduce Ireland's trade freedom score."
  
  Ireland scores highly when it comes to business freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom, monetary freedom, property rights, and freedom from corruption.
  
  Entrepreneurship is made easy in Ireland because Government has a "light regulatory hand". It also notes that "distortionary EU agricultural subsidies" are undermining the country's monetary score, however.
  
  Asia again topped a survey which ranks the world's freest economies in 2007, with Hong Kong in first place and Singapore in second position.

More on this report can be found at The Heritage Index, and there is also a detailed page on Ireland.

Would anybody care to speculate as to where in the rankings Ireland would likely be after say, five years of being a Democratic Socialist Republic as so many of the posters on this site seem to desire? :wink:

[tumeltyni]

Ireland scores highly when it comes to [....] freedom from corruption.

[Rocky]

Ireland scores highly when it comes to [....] freedom from corruption.

Well we only came 17th, which is behind all of the other countries in the top ten including the US and I'd say most of the EU. The large majority of countries in this would are very very corruption, so it’s not that great.

It’s good to see that we have a very free economy all the same though.

[jady88]

Ireland scores highly when it comes to [....] freedom from corruption.

Well we only came 17th, which is behind all of the other countries in the top ten including the US and I'd say most of the EU. The large majority of countries in this would are very very corruption, so it’s not that great.

It’s good to see that we have a very free economy all the same though.

Corruption needs to dealt with very strongly.

[cyberianpan]

Ireland scores highly when it comes to [....] freedom from corruption.

I'm not that surprised (excluding the building sector(and that's a big exclude)) Ireland is fairly ok on that front. State procurement/contracts are quite transparent (above the relevant thresholds) & mostly our bodies of state are quite independent.

Returning to Bertie's builders: methinks there is a subtle form of passive corruption here relating to lack of enforcement of various laws, lack of reform etc. This wouldn't readily show up on a generic test.

Our labour laws are indeed very restrictive (we come 86th there !!), believe it would benefit all for them to be relaxed. After all happiness comes from a sense of achieving ? So lazy tosspot unionised workerbots ought be more fire-able, they'd probably end up in more satisfying jobs as a result.

cYp

[Respvblica]

Ireland scores highly when it comes to [....] freedom from corruption.

Well we only came 17th, which is behind all of the other countries in the top ten including the US and I'd say most of the EU. The large majority of countries in this would are very very corruption, so it’s not that great.

It’s good to see that we have a very free economy all the same though.

Corruption needs to dealt with very strongly.

Is that a warning to Bertie?

[thesystemworks]

This survey serves as an excellent warning against a democratic socialist state after '07 elections. We have the PDs to thank, in part, for our free economy. Dermot McAleese, emeritus professor of economics at Trinity College, Dublin, says that the emergence of the Progressive Democrats in 1985 may have had a more positive influence on the economy than some recognise. He argues the low-tax, pro-business economy we know today is based in large part on Progressive Democrat policies. "They proved that there was a constituency for this, and they gave the intellectual power to it." (The Irish Times, 31 December 2004). Those left-wing schnorrers in certain parties I don't care to mention should wake up and realise their idealogies has been made redundant, there was a Celtic Tiger, and most Irish people are not living in misery in a 'two tier' society.

[ibis]

Ireland scores highly when it comes to [....] freedom from corruption.

:shock:

I'm not that surprised (excluding the building sector(and that's a big exclude)) Ireland is fairly ok on that front. State procurement/contracts are quite transparent (above the relevant thresholds) & mostly our bodies of state are quite independent.

Up to a point. I've never encountered corruption, but as a small company you often run into the ass-covering factor, where civil servants pick a well-known company (like PWC) because if it goes wrong they can say "oh, but PWC are a reputable company - it's not like I took a punt on some unknown".

Unfortunately, between civil servants covering their posteriors, and consultants covering theirs, projects often suffer from committee paralysis.

[feargach]

re: freedom from corruption.

I think that we're benefiting from comparison to Africa and Latin America. They've set the bar somewhat low.