In many ways Ireland should be considered an advanced warning system for countries outside the US which have stumbled in the credit crunch and recession (aka The Great Panic of 2008).
It has been brought low by a popped housing bubble, poor regulation, crooked and self-enriching business people at all levels, an underperforming media that preferred to laud many in business, too much short term debt and financial adventures by banks and other groups who should have known better.
For Ireland you could substitute the UK, Denmark, Spain, Hungary, Latvia, and a host of similar-sized countries.
Because we didn’t have a housing bubble like Ireland, Spain or the US (despite claims that we did), and because our greedy banks were basically saved from being stupid by regulation and other pressures, Australia is not in the same position as Ireland.
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