Economy faces third decade of ‘self-inflicted harm’, claims expert

THE economy is facing its third decade of “self-inflicted harm” since the 1980s because of itsfailure to control the nationalfinances, a top international economist has warned.

As a result of the current mess, the danger of the State defaulting on its debt repayments cannot be ruled out, warned Dan O’Brien, chief economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Mr O’Brien pulled no punches in his presentation to the Construction Industry Federation’s breakfast briefing in Dublin.