The latest export figures for Ireland show an increase over a year ago, a feat unique in the EU and the OECD. These only serve to reinforce the local, rather than global, circumstances of Ireland’s recession. If Ireland truly were a victim of collapsing global demand, the GDP fall this year would be closer to 20%.
I have just discovered a set of global trade statistics updated monthly by the Dutch Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB). (Incidentally, this is not the first time I’ve come across excellent work by the CPB – their work on administrative burdens imposed by regulation is essentially the international pioneer on the topic and has [...]
