Well, being locked in the euro, austerity was probably unavoidable, but has it done any good? Not really…

Ireland was the first country that embarked on a really massive austerity program, when most of the rest of the world was doing exactly the opposite. With their very open economy, that should have made things a lot easier for them, free riding on the stimulus of others.

It didn’t.

And now, for all these efforts, what do they have to show for it? Their debt is downgraded by S&P