Tyler Cowen Finds A Straw To Grasp

It seems the Irish economy actually had a couple of quarters of growth.

The economy expanded at a faster rate than expected in the second quarter of the year, putting in its strongest quarterly growth performance since the recession began, according to new data published today.

The seasonally adjusted figures estimated that gross domestic product – the widest measure of economic activity - rose by 1.6 per cent between the first and second quarters of 2011. Gross national product, which excludes the profits of multinational firms, increased by 1.1 per cent compared with the first quarter of the year.

Even Cowen's usually rather sychophantic commenters can't swallow this one. Examples:

Gepap.............So with this grand growth, Ireland will return to its pre-crisis GDP when? 2020? 2025? 2030? Yeah, hurrah for austerity!
.....
Benny Lava............“Ireland’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 14.2 percent in the second quarter from a slightly revised downward figure of 13.9 percent for January-March"

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