Recent failures to limit public spending or to broaden sources of government revenue remind middle-aged commentators of the period leading up to the great Irish financial crash from 2008 onwards. They can see signs of a repetition, including the emergence of higher borrowing costs for the Eurozone members judged to be taking too many chances with the public finances. Older observers can also remember the fiscal retrenchment which followed the appointment of Ray MacSharry, Mack the Knife, to the Department of Finance in early 1987. Younger people, including many business journalists and politicians, have shorter memories and struggle to remember…

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