Metamorphosis - Lessons from the Formative Years of the Celtic Tiger, 1979-1993 (Hardcover)

There are consistent and recurrent themes throughout the CII campaigns from 1979 to 1993 that remain relevant in Ireland today. There is a continuing need for the generation of economic awareness on a broad basis within the community, and for social partnership to unite all stakeholders in the common objective of sustaining growth and ensuring equity in resource distribution. There is a continuing need for vigilance in the management of the public finances, and to guard against community expectations and aspirations outstripping economic reality. Associated with this is the need for vigilance about the level of inflation, especially Government-generated inflation. In relation to promoting an environment for enterprise, there is a need for a balanced approach to business legislation, business taxation, and employee issues, including employee shareholding and participation. Education and training needs to be up-dated constantly in line with, and even ahead of, international best practice. Challenges remain in infrastructure development, balanced regional development, and environmental protection and enhancement. Putting together all of the elements, there is a requirement for a dynamic in identifying national business growth sectors in the light of international developments and of the ongoing international reallocation of product and service specialisations. Much was learned in Ireland in this regard in the decade and a half prior to the Celtic Tiger era. It is vital that these lessons, then learned the hard way, are not forgotten; they remain relevant not only for Ireland, but for the new and aspirant Member States of the EU and for developing economies throughout the world. In this book, Con Power has distilled a lifetime's experience as an influential participant in the development of Ireland's social and economic policy. In the current period of global economic and financial turbulence, we can learn from Ireland's experience in managing change successfully in times of adversity: Con Power's analysis, in effect, constitutes a self-help manual for business inputs to the process of national economic and social policy formulation. 'The emphasis on economic realism has an enduring relevance. So too have the policies involving the incentivisation of human endeavour, of risk-taking, and of capital investment through low taxation, light-touch regulation and open and flexible markets that have been a consistent feature of public policy since 1997 and must remain so' - From the Foreword by Charlie McCreevy, Member of the European Commission.