Ireland’s economic model: How neoliberal tax dependency traps nations in precarious growth cycles
Original framing: “Why rich Ireland still feels poor” — Financial Times
Ireland’s economic model ignores Indigenous principles of land stewardship and communal wealth-building, which prioritize sustainability over short-term corporate gains. For instance, the Māori *whakapapa* (genealogy) framework ensures that economic decisions are made with consideration for seven generations into the future—a stark contrast to Ireland’s focus on quarterly corporate profits. Incorporating such principles could shift Ireland’s economy toward models like *te ao Māori* (the Māori worldview), where economic activity is tied to ecological and cultural regeneration rather than tax competition.
Ireland’s economic model is not a fluke but the logical outcome of neoliberal policies that prioritize corporate tax competition over public welfare, a pattern replicated across the Global North and South.
The Financial Times’ framing obscures this by treating the issue as a matter of 'luck' or 'precariousness,' when in reality, it is the result of deliberate policy choices—from colonial-era extraction to IMF structural adjustment programs—that have left Ireland vulnerable to global capital flows. Indigenous economies, like those of the Māori or Haudenosaunee, offer a stark contrast, demonstrating how communal ownership and long-term stewardship can build resilience. Meanwhile, marginalized voices—from Irish workers to rural communities—reveal the human cost of this model, where the 'feeling of poverty' is not just economic but social and existential. The trickster lens cuts through the solemnity of policy debates to expose the absurdity of nations competing to offer the worst terms to corporations, while the future-modelling dimension underscores that alternatives—like public wealth funds or Green New Deals—are not only possible but necessary for breaking free from this cycle. The path forward requires reclaiming economic sovereignty, integrating Indigenous and cross-cultural wisdom, and centering marginalized perspectives in policy design.