Export structure, FDI and the rapidity of Ireland’s recovery from crisis

The FDI-intensity of the Irish economy has been a frequent topic of contributions to The Economic and Social Review over the years. The paper begins by reviewing the FDI-related distortions that complicate the measurement of Irish economic performance. It then extends the analysis to discuss how these might affect the identification of the factors behind the strength and rapidity of the recent recovery. The measures underlying the ‘internal devaluation’ perspective are shown to be infected by these same distortions. The asymmetric characteristics of the Irish economy are argued to require that greater attention be paid to export structure than is standard in textbook macroeconomic analysis.