Irish reunification: the costs and other issues - many that haven't even been thought about
In conversation with Professor Edgar Morgenroth
Our latest podcast is up!
Professor Edgar Morgenroth has recently published a joint paper with professor John Fitzgerald that takes a deep dive into the potential costs of Irish reunification.
We talk to Edgar about his work. We look at lessons from german reunification and the asumptions behind his estimates that it could cost the Irish taxpayer a lot of money. And a lot of sweat and tears.
Planning will be essential. Bad outcomes after ill thought out referendums have historical precedent. Brexit for instance.
Apple podcast link here
Spotify:
listening to the rest of it now. Very good.
THIS IS NOT THE UNITED IRELAND / BREXIT WE VOTED FOR!
That should be the no campaign billboard I think.
Is the deficit any difference to other subventions?” is the great question Chris. Well done: Nice and open.
The reality is it is! Northern Ireland’s economy is a basket case and the political mess is even worse. It’s time to face reality: it’s not a real country: it’s a DMZ. A peace project that needs funding from a the UK, considering it’s their mess.
The mad thing is the economics is so strong it’s outweighing culture. There can’t be many instance of this. I’m from a big IRA family background but I can’t be delusional when thinking of what is best for the next generation.
Hi lads. Delighted to see a podcast on this topic because I think public opinion in the republic will be swayed once the less economically literate get a clear tangible picture of just how much we’re talking about here.
I’m writing this as I listen so apologies if this gets covered later on.
One counterargument that pops up is that the northern Irish economy will grow post unification. As you are well aware I’m sure, an impossible argument to either back up or to fully rebut. But I will give it a shot.
Much of the republic’s economic success is built on the multinational sector choosing the republic ahead of other EU states to invest in. At least some of Northern Ireland’s economy is built on the spill over effects from that economic activity in the republic, so they already benefit from this to some degree.
How dubious an assumption is it to say if we expand Ireland’s population size by 50%, we will in the aftermath attract 50% more multinationals required to deliver the same economic model to Northern Ireland? I think if we were capable of attracting 50% more multinationals into Ireland we would have done so by now already. Where will this growth come from?