Economic and Financial Reports Volume 01/2002

Catching the Celtic Tiger by its Tail

The current paper attempts to assess the major sources behind the more than average Irish growth performance in the 1990s. The recent Irish “Economic Miracle” has been the subject of much analysis, and it seems undoubtedly true that the extraordinary growth in the 1990s cannot be pinned down to a single factor. Human capital, foreign direct investment, Social Partnership agreements, sound budget and economic policies since the late 1980s, EU membership, flexible labour market and an English-speaking population all seemed to have interacted to produce this high-growth economy.