Newsweek ranking - Optimism is welcome

Newsweek, the American news magazine, has rated Taoiseach Brian Cowen as one of the 10 best leaders in the world today.

He is ranked with such leaders as David Cameron of Britain, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

According to the report, Mr Cowen and “his able Finance Minister Brian Lenihan are prescribing harsh medicine” in pushing through “austerity packages drastic enough to win the admiration of the international community”. But the Irish people are “not showing much gratitude” in that. Mr Cowen’s popularity has dropped to just 18% in the polls.

Ireland’s “once roaring economy” has been “staggered by the banking crisis”, according to the magazine. Unemployment is at 13% and there is rising emigration, while the money markets rank the country “not far behind Greece on the list of Europe’s big-time losers”.

Despite the setbacks, however, the report contends there is “some hope” that the current “government’s unpopular measures will be rewarded in the long run”. Some surveys suggest that consumer confidence is growing, and “the economy notched up modest growth in the first quarter of 2010”.

Only time will tell whether the Newsweek assessment is accurate. It is still too early to determine if the measures adopted are the right way forward. People will continue to argue from very different ideological perspectives about whether the best way forward would be to increase taxes on the rich, or cut services to the bone. We live in a global market, so international confidence is of crucial importance. Whether Irish people share Newsweek’s optimism or not, the report should be welcomed, because our economic recovery requires the rebuilding of both international and domestic confidence in the necessary corrective measures.