Issue #0

Austerity Ireland

The Failure of Irish Capitalism

Plot

Ireland has been marketed as the poster boy of EU austerity. EU elites and neoliberal commentators claim that the country's ability to suffer economic pain will attract investors and generate a recovery.In Austerity Ireland, Kieran Allen challenges this official narrative and argues that the Irish state's response to the crash has primarily been designed to protect economic privilege. The resulting austerity has been a failure and is likely to produce a decade of hardship.The book offers a deeply informed diagnosis of Ireland's current socio-economic and political malaise, suggesting that a political earthquake is underway which may benefit the left. Austerity Ireland is essential reading for students of Irish politics and economics, as well as those interested in the politics of austerity and the eurozone crisis.