I don’t know why you deleted the last thread, but I’m reposting my comment here.
Ireland is a case of why study on international monetary flows are important. They’re effectively a tax haven with a bunch of foreign companies that otherwise don’t have any business being there, which massively distorts their GDP. That’s why you see all these weird fluctuations in economic strength, especially in line with pharmaceutical cycles.
[I didn’t comment on this thread debating the merits of a global minimum tax](https://www.reddit.com/r/neoliberal/comments/1tsefg2/a_potentially_positive_welfare_assessment_of_the/), but the pro-minimum corporate tax side actually has a good point here with regards to economic distortion and efficiency. When you have one country like Ireland effectively undercutting everybody else, it results in companies giving tax revenues to tax havens which should really belong in their home country, where all the IP and productivity is actually located.
Regardless of what you think about the efficacy (or lack thereof) of corporate taxes, there needs to be some international agreement on their minimums in order to ensure taxes are allocated between countries fairly and efficiently.
Edit: To address some concerns:
* **Ireland has already agreed to a minimum corporate tax rate of 15%.**
* I agree with this, but there’s a combination of carveouts and capital allowances that allow them to bring this down significantly. Also, regardless of what you think about Ireland’s agreements to a minimum corporate tax, it’s undeniable the surging corporate tax revenue is a result of Irish policies first and foremost.
* **There is manufacturing production, particularly with regards to pharmaceuticals in the country.**
* This I actually got wrong, I was unaware there is significant pharmaceutical manufacturing in Ireland. But the point is companies are still booking overall profits in Ireland, even with revenue they generated outside of the country. So my overall point still stands that despite much of the productive work happening outside of Ireland, they’re still getting tax revenue from it for no reason other than being a tax haven.
GDP is essentially a useless measure of the Irish economy anyway. GNP, which excludes multinationals, is up. If you took GDP as an objective economic measure Ireland would have been in a recession since Q2 2025, which is not the case.
JustAVihannes on
I have Ireland derangement syndrome and I’m proud of it
Particular_Tennis337 on
seems like a good change overall, the gdp now is representing the real irish economy more, The projections that Irelands economy is as big as Swedens was crazy in the first place
datums on
Imagine you’re CFO of some massive company, and the German government calls you in and asks when you’re going to pay your taxes. And you just say “Ireland says I don’t have to”, and walk out.
7 Comments
I don’t know why you deleted the last thread, but I’m reposting my comment here.
Ireland is a case of why study on international monetary flows are important. They’re effectively a tax haven with a bunch of foreign companies that otherwise don’t have any business being there, which massively distorts their GDP. That’s why you see all these weird fluctuations in economic strength, especially in line with pharmaceutical cycles.
[I didn’t comment on this thread debating the merits of a global minimum tax](https://www.reddit.com/r/neoliberal/comments/1tsefg2/a_potentially_positive_welfare_assessment_of_the/), but the pro-minimum corporate tax side actually has a good point here with regards to economic distortion and efficiency. When you have one country like Ireland effectively undercutting everybody else, it results in companies giving tax revenues to tax havens which should really belong in their home country, where all the IP and productivity is actually located.
Regardless of what you think about the efficacy (or lack thereof) of corporate taxes, there needs to be some international agreement on their minimums in order to ensure taxes are allocated between countries fairly and efficiently.
Edit: To address some concerns:
* **Ireland has already agreed to a minimum corporate tax rate of 15%.**
* I agree with this, but there’s a combination of carveouts and capital allowances that allow them to bring this down significantly. Also, regardless of what you think about Ireland’s agreements to a minimum corporate tax, it’s undeniable the surging corporate tax revenue is a result of Irish policies first and foremost.
* **There is manufacturing production, particularly with regards to pharmaceuticals in the country.**
* This I actually got wrong, I was unaware there is significant pharmaceutical manufacturing in Ireland. But the point is companies are still booking overall profits in Ireland, even with revenue they generated outside of the country. So my overall point still stands that despite much of the productive work happening outside of Ireland, they’re still getting tax revenue from it for no reason other than being a tax haven.
Submission statement: Irish GDP being weird
(Repost to fix the title)
https://preview.redd.it/9okvyubych5h1.jpeg?width=1172&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6319a04c2e4d7258a40888b30abd47170947c855
GDP is essentially a useless measure of the Irish economy anyway. GNP, which excludes multinationals, is up. If you took GDP as an objective economic measure Ireland would have been in a recession since Q2 2025, which is not the case.
I have Ireland derangement syndrome and I’m proud of it
seems like a good change overall, the gdp now is representing the real irish economy more, The projections that Irelands economy is as big as Swedens was crazy in the first place
Imagine you’re CFO of some massive company, and the German government calls you in and asks when you’re going to pay your taxes. And you just say “Ireland says I don’t have to”, and walk out.
That’s what this is.
Ireland is a tax haven with a decent PR