Irish Examiner
yes, grow the economy by importing/growing the population and cramming them into our already creaking infrastructure. Lets focus on developing exports/competitiveness and getting our infrastructure sorted before planning on doubling our economy by doubling the population. What matters is gdp per capita and the purchasing power of an individuals income and quality of living.
Fantastic, we continue to grow our GDP by adding to the population!!
Meanwhile, our GDP per person falls dramatically
Okay, own up. Who let Coleman get his hands on the keys to the sherry cabinet again?
Star
IMO quotes such as the above starkly illustrate the fact, as alluded to on other threads on this site, that the current crop of economists, in Ireland at any rate, but possibly also globally, see economic growth at any cost as some sort of modern day holy grail.
The fact that growth itself, when mismanaged, can be harmful is not even contemplated. Anyone who pointed out structural problems in the growth which occurred in Ireland over the past 10 years was constantly shot down by economists who simply pointed to Ireland having growth rates which were the envy of other European countries. That was enough to win the argument. However, once the growth is gone the side effects of the bad planning will remain as its legacy for future generations.
Commentators such as Coleman, who im guessing came of age during the 1980s(and whose views IMO represent an influential societal grouping), have allowed their whole mindset be shaped by what would appear to be a fear of ever returning to the pre-Celtic Tiger days of unemployment, emigration etc. Its no longer good enough for them to respond that the alternative to everything they say is a return to the 80s. Their attitude smacks of a parent chastising an ungrateful child. Just as the mindsets of the past were thrown aside when they overstayed their usefulness, those whose world view has been shaped by outdated models and views need now to be pushed aside. We need a real debate on where this country is going rather than a “Colemanesque” slow drift into (what sounds to me at any rate) a nation of car-bound commuters.
Also, as an aside, the following quote, “Ireland is hugely underpopulated…” taken from the above piece, says it all with regard to the housing market. How he can go on record with this quote while also claiming that the countrywide mass of housing, including the stock of empties, is not over valued is priceless in the extreme.
Muppet trying to sell his book a la david mcwilliams.why did he leave the irish times anyway?
"Ireland should take inspiration from the state of Israel. From about two million in 1948 when founded, Israel’s population has almost quadrupled to more than seven million today, according to the book. "
What’s our plan, allow descendents of the famine to emigrate back to Ireland?
Coleman’s talking out of his hat. If we’re going to kill off agriculture, from where are we going to rely on food. In an age of high oil prices (I can see the money all bail into oil now that the stock market is stuttering), how can we afford not to grow local produce. JEez, I sound like DeValera 
Why didn’t some thinking of this before!!!.
Right here’s what we do, get 30bn each year in Aid from the yanks in Ameri-K and buy loads of good weapons off them, Apache Gunship’s a few Abrahams and we’re in business.
Invade the good bits of the North should take us about 6 days. Ram the proddies into about 15 sq miles and build a big old wall to keep them in, help out the boys down at CRH at the same time!
Then we can bomb the Belfast runway to bits stop those treacherous Aer Lingus fuckers moving that route from Shannon and hold those jobs for our own!
Then get some Kid in Maynooth College to lash out the “800 year dossier” with shaking fist on the cover. Lovely stuff, have some one forge St Patrick’s name on the end.
Go to the UN Security council with said dossier have Bertie do the business maybe even turn on the waterworks. Here we shall reveal to the world that the Brits have been harboring deadly chemical agents know as Foot & Mouth.
In Ireland this threatens the very power elites as it causes politicians to start saying silly things and causing them to almost lose elections. It usually manifests itself in the form of putting your foot in your mouth at the mere smell of a microphone or camera.
Then we can declare war with the UK & invade! Oh its all so perfect! Then we’ll convert our agricultural sector into the world most advanced medical bio cloning industry the world has ever seen. With this we can producer clone warriors for the total conquest of the planet, then the Universe!
To put it simply, this should get the prorety market back on its feet in no time.
Ignoring the stupidity of the overall premise that ireland ‘should’ have such population numbers (can you imaging the population of sweden, australia or canada with such logic?), this line in particular needs comment.
According to Coleman, all ireland needs to get and stay ever richer is a large supply of foreigners, who for unexplained reasons, wish to move to ireland and presumably pay ever larger amounts of money for ever crappier housing (which will make us all rich how?). I see no reason that GDP per person will really improve, even if weight of population numbers drags GDP overall upwards. Chances are, that without significant borrowing, average GDP per person would drop.
Yet what will these immigrants do, since apart from construction and related industries, there’s been no significant growth in ireland for years.
So it seems that lots of people will move to ireland for no reason, and this will, for no reason, have the effect of making ireland rich? I’m grateful that Coleman is ex-ECB - the last thing we need is that level of logic having any euro-wide influence.
In this boom and bust scenario…where’s the megalomania phase set in!?
jeez. I say Marc’s ready for the straight jacket. Remember to scratch your nose before they put it on ye, Marc…
This is even more depressing on a second reading. As pointed out by Raging Bear, Coleman’s reasoning behind the proposed century long boom would appear to be to load as many immigrants as possible onto the island and rent them all houses at (presumably) ever increasing rental prices. It would be laughable if we didnt know the guy’s background. Former ECB/former Irish Times/current Sindo, its fair to presume that he has the ear of the establishment/get-rich-quick merchants who are running this country. Not only that, but it may be presumed that his views are actually representative of an influential constituency out there in lala land. This type of thing could be defended on free speach grounds if it was guaranteed that media commentators would critically evaluate what is contained in the piece before endorsing it. Instead, its enthusiastically endorsed on the basis that it contains the magic words “it will make us all rich”. Yes all of us. Every last one. My God. 
Fairytale economics detached from the harsh reality of the cost and profit obsessed globalised economy. Colemanballs must run in the family. 
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colemanballs
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/38/Colemanballs.jpg