IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/admini/v71y2023i2p27-51n3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A road not taken? Economic ideology and the articulation of policy alternatives in Irish state economic policymaking, 1948–58

Author

Listed:
  • Fitzgerald Frank

    (Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Limerick, Ireland)

Abstract

In the midst of a seemingly unending economic crisis, the period 1948–58 saw a dramatic expansion of fiscal policy in Ireland. T. K. Whitaker’s Economic Development is traditionally represented as a landmark departure behind this change from traditional Department of Finance thinking and political inertia, propelled by the perceived Keynesian ideas of his fellow younger economists. However, by assessing the policy positions each actor adopted during major economic events of the period, this study argues that Whitaker’s economic outlook largely aligned with Finance’s, and that Economic Development must be viewed in large part as a reaction to the pre-existing fiscal commitments of the public capital programme. In tandem, it concludes that although the influential younger economists of the period are sometimes described as expansionist Keynesians – such as Patrick Lynch, who in the early part of the decade spearheaded Keynesian-type initiatives such as the capital budget principle – by mid decade their views aligned with the more classical economic outlook of the Department of Finance.

Suggested Citation

  • Fitzgerald Frank, 2023. "A road not taken? Economic ideology and the articulation of policy alternatives in Irish state economic policymaking, 1948–58," Administration, Sciendo, vol. 71(2), pages 27-51, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:vrs:admini:v:71:y:2023:i:2:p:27-51:n:3
    DOI: 10.2478/admin-2023-0010
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/admin-2023-0010
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/admin-2023-0010?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Patrick Honohan & Cormac Ó Gráda, 1998. "The Irish macroeconomic crisis of 1955-56 : how much was due to monetary policy," Open Access publications 10197/463, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    2. Keith M. Carlson & Roger W. Spencer, 1975. "Crowding out and its critics," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 57(Dec), pages 2-17.
    3. Barry, Frank, 2009. "Politics and Fiscal Policy Under Lemass: A Theoretical Appraisal," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 40(4), pages 393-406.
    4. Patrick Paul Walsh & Ciara Whelan, 2010. "Hirschman and Irish Industrial Policy," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 41(3), pages 283-299.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Richard J. Cebula, 2008. "Small Firm Size and Health Insurance: A Private Enterprise Perspective," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 24(Fall 2008), pages 51-77.
    2. X. Henry Wang & Bill Yang & Alex Young, 2023. "On the monetary policy in an economy with banks endogenously creating money," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 82(2), pages 121-127, March.
    3. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5221 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Cebula, Richard & Clark, Jeff, 2014. "Impact of Economic Freedom, Regulatory Quality, and Taxation on the Per Capita Real Income: An Analysis for OECD Nations and Non-G8 OECD Nations," MPRA Paper 56605, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Frank Barry, 2008. "Ireland – politics, institutions and post-war economic growth," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 9(01), pages 23-34, April.
    6. Cebula, Richard & McGrath, Richard, 2006. "Identifying Determinants of the Cost of Long Term Borrowing for U.S. Firms: Insights for Management," MPRA Paper 49647, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Spector, Lee C, 1999. "Macroeconomic Models and the Determination of Crowding Out," Public Finance = Finances publiques, , vol. 54(1-2), pages 84-98.
    8. Kenny, Seán & McLaughlin, Eoin, 2022. "Political Economy Of Secession: Lessons From The Early Years Of The Irish Free State," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 261, pages 48-78, August.
    9. Lee, Jim, 2015. "The regional economic impact of oil and gas extraction in Texas," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 60-71.
    10. Yasuo Kofuji, 1984. "On the Efficacy of Fiscal Policy and Price Level Changes," Public Finance Review, , vol. 12(2), pages 167-181, April.
    11. Richard J. Cebula, 2013. "Budget Deficits, Economic Freedom, and Economic Growth in OECD Nations: P2SLS Fixed-Effects Estimates, 2003–2008," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 28(Spring 20), pages 75-96.
    12. Richard J Cebula, 2004. "The Impact of the Federal Budget Deficit on the Nominal Interest Rate Yield on U.S. Treasury Notes, 1979-2001," The IUP Journal of Applied Economics, IUP Publications, vol. 0(2), pages 7-18, March.
    13. Richard Cebula & Christopher Carlos & James Koch, 1981. "The ‘crowding out’ effect of federal government outlay decisions: An empirical note," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 329-336, January.
    14. Herbert G. Grubel, 1982. "Reflections on a Canadian Bill of Economic Rights," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 8(1), pages 57-68, Winter.
    15. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/5221 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Farmer, Roger E.A., 2012. "The stock market crash of 2008 caused the Great Recession: Theory and evidence," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 693-707.
    17. Cormac Ó Gráda & Kevin Hjortshøj O'Rourke, 2022. "The Irish economy during the century after partition," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(2), pages 336-370, May.
    18. Suzan Hol, 2006. "Determinants of long-term interest rates in the Scandinavian countries," Discussion Papers 469, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    19. Cebula, Richard, 1979. "Crowding Out: An Empirical Note: Reply," MPRA Paper 56629, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Rebecca Stuart, 2020. "Monetary regimes, the term structure and business cycles in Ireland, 1972–2018," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 88(5), pages 731-748, September.
    21. Cebula, Richard & McGrath, Richard & Toma, Michael, 2005. "Impact of the Primary Budget Deficit on the Nominal Long Term Interest Rate Yield on Tax Free Municipal Bonds," MPRA Paper 61411, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    22. Cebula, Richard J. & Clark, J.R. & Mixon, Franklin G., Jr., 2013. "The Impact of Economic Freedom on Per Capita Real GDP: A Study of OECD Nations," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 43(1).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:admini:v:71:y:2023:i:2:p:27-51:n:3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.