“Amid all the focus on the flood of different reports on the Irish economy, and the battle between the slash and burn brigade and the stimulants, the new Science Foundation Ireland strategy on Powering the Smart Economy seems to have slipped under the radar of many. This is surprising, as it remains probably the only sector of Irish public spending now that seems to be ring fenced against spending cuts and, of course, it is regarded by the official view as being the centrepiece of trying to position Ireland for economic success once we get ourselves out of the current mess. Yet, as with so many of the sacred cows of Celtic Tiger Ireland that few dared criticise (stimulating a booming economy, opening the flood gates of credit, establishing new agencies for any problem that emerged, national planning that was simply a list of goodies to be funded), current policy towards R&D does little to stimulate confidence that it can achieve the lofty goals it has set for itself. A more critical examination is greatly overdue …” (more)
[Peadar Kirby, progressive-economy@tasc, 26 March]