The Rise and Fall of the Celtic Tiger

What was the Celtic Tiger? It was a period of economic development and growth in the 1990s that had an impact on Irish society that reverberates to this day. As a country that has dealt with extreme poverty pre-20th century and moderate poverty in the 20th century, the Celtic Tiger was a stark anomaly in rapidly improving key economic performance indicators for both the macro and micro levels. Ever since this inflection point, the Irish consensus sanctified the policies associated with the Celtic Tiger. But what exactly were those policies? We know there was strong growth, but why was there strong growth? Additionally, why did the Celtic Tiger fall? I answer these questions in more in my latest essay. I do a substantial deep dive into the historical record, scholarly sources, and data to illustrate the rise and fall.