EU Subsidies Were Not Key to Irish Economic Miracle
An article posted at AEI’s American.com discusses Ireland’s economic boom and explains that smaller government and lower tax rates are the key reasons the nation’s explosive growth. Bureaucrats in Brussels and opponents of limited government sometimes claim that subsidies from Brussels deserve the credit, but advocates of this position are unable to explain why Greece and Portugal (which received similar subsidies) have remained poor:
Some Europeans, particularly European Union officials in Brussels, praise significant EU structural subsidies—in the tens of billions—for planting the seeds of Irish prosperity. …But EU structural funds alone would not have helped Ireland escape its economic predicament. Many nations receive outside financial aid without any appreciable increase in their economic prosperity. The real credit belongs to Irish fiscal policy. Beginning in the late 1980s, successive Irish governments pursued vital spending cuts and tax relief. …Ireland has a 12.5 percent corporate tax rate, which has made it a magnet for powerhouse firms.
