How the world's most indebted Government can raise €5Bn per year & pay down debt, without raising taxes
Stone broke How things have changed! Last year it was known as the Celtic Tiger. Now it's a sickly creature living on borrowed time. Ireland is, according to figures published by the Irish central tatistics office (CSO), the world's most indebted country, as a proportion of GDP. The government has an urgent need to replace a sudden and severe loss of revenue from income tax, VAT & property transaction taxes. Various measures have been proposed , mostly focussing on sharp increases in income & property taxes. This may help to rebalance public finances in the short-term but also risk a further sharp contraction in consumer confidence and economic activity, with further weakening of state finances in due course. Reliving the past In previous economic cycles elevated income taxes have coincided with reduced consumption, severe loss of confidence, recession, unemployment and emigration. There is a real danger Ireland will return to past failures if measures to repair governm