The review in today's Financial Times of Enough is Enough: How to Build a New Republic by Fintan O'Toole was intriguing. The review (by David Gardner) makes it clear that the book, by a leading critic and columnist, sees the whole Celtic Tiger phenomenon as a political reaction to the country's modernisation – a “substitute identity” in place of the reactionary, theological Ireland of much of the 20th century. As the publisher's blurb puts it: “The political system is dysfunctional and is one of the main causes of
the debacle we have just experienced.”

This sent me back to a book I co-edited a few years ago about Scotland, New Wealth for Old Nations. We commissioned eminent Irish economist John Bradley to consider the lessons of Ireland's economic success for Scottish policy makers. John's essay, which majors on the role of the EU in making modernisation of the Irish economy possible, on investment in education, and on the role of policy makers in creating a focal point to co-ordinate individual economic activity, still reads well. There has just been a dramatic speculative boom overlaid on some very sensible policies.

Which takes me on to the thought that economists have ignored and are still overlooking the politics of the crisis. In all the worst-affected countries, not just Ireland, Portugal and Greece, but also Spain, the US and UK, there is a nexus of finance, construction and politics at the heart of the problem. Some authors have started to touch on this, such as Simon Johnson and James Kwak in their 13 Bankers, and Raghuram Rajan in Fault Lines. But issues of power and governance remain under-investigated. A spotlight needs to be shone on the extent of the greed and undemocratic exercise of power that have got us into this mess. Fintan O'Toole's book looks a good contribution to this scrutiny.