THE GOOD ROOM

A forensic entertaining polemic from the author of The Pope s Children Ireland is deeply in debt beholden to the IMF the EU and the bond markets Its economy is frozen and years of austerity are ahead It didn t have to be this way and it doesn t have to be this way In The Good Room David McWilliams who spotted the dangers of the Irish property bubble and imbalances within the eurozone at a time when other commentators were cheerleading the boom explains the bizarre economics behind Ireland s current predicament and illuminates a different path for the country He illustrates the consequences of debt and austerity for ordinary Irish people and explains why austerity can t work And he shows that history offers numerous useful models for Irish recovery provided we open our eyes to them Economics is about people like you The Pope s Children was the book that connected the dots between economics and daily life in Ireland during the boom years The Good Room does the same for the Ireland of the bust and is in its call for a completely different approach an even more urgent and necessary work McWilliams has a great knack for bringing a complex economics story to life He is also funny In economics that s a rare and persuasive combination