Ireland in the World Economy

Rationale and Purpose of the Module: This course deals with important macro and micro economic issues and problems facing the Irish economy in the context of its status as one of the most globally ingegrated economies. The course covers characteristics of the economy such as demographic and labour market characteristics and distributional aspects. It also examines the principal sectors of the economy including agriculture, services and manufacturing. It emphasises the challenges posed by increased intregration in the international economy including questions of immigration and environmental sustainability.

Syllabus: The course begins with a review of the history and characteristics of the Irish economy in terms of its transition to relatively small closed economy to a regional economy with high levels of integration with the 
global economy. It covers recent demographic and labour market trends as well as distributional issues including poverty and income distribution. It proceeds to cover the policy and performance of the agriculture, services and manufacturing sectors. This is followed by the conduct of supply side policies such as competition and regulation policy. The course also covers the issues arising from the increased integration of emerging economies such as China as well as developing economies and the challenges posed by their development in terms of different aspects of sustainability including environment, trade and labour market issues.