With so many sadly emigrating, Eamonn Fingleton is one Irish man who returned home recently after living in London, New York and Tokyo for many years. He is now a local in Dublin 4. Fingleton is a world-renowned author in financial circles and his tomes are listed on Amazon.com and Business Week’s ten best business books of the year.
A decade ago Fingleton warned the US government against financial deregulation. Unfortunately his advice was ignored, to the detriment of the US economy. And to our own, as we followed the example set by the U.S and London. He points out that Ireland, forty years ago, understood the advantages to be gained from investment in manufacturing. But we moved away from this dependable business configuration and instead concentrated on service industries.
History now proves Fingleton’s postulations to be more astute than those of many political leaders.
Fingleton studied economics at Trinity College and learnt his trade as an economic journalist in Dublin before moving to London where he became the youngest financial editor on Fleet St. He went on to be an editor of Forbes in New York. In his capacity as a journalist and editor, he called those ‘in-the-know’ to interview them. He has interviewed, among many other reputed business and political trailblazers, figures such as Rupert Murdoch, Donald Trump and Milton Friedman. His publications have been read into the record of the U.S. Senate by Senator Ernest F. Hollings. Now, with his reputation as a reliable economic analyst firmly established, they call him. Henry Kissinger once asked to see him for advice.
So what does he advocate for us here in Ireland? He extols Intel and Glen Dimplex as leading examples in manufacturing. There is no question of the magnitude of this economic direction. Fingleton expands on the three key reasons for his proposal.
Firstly manufacturing will increase the “good” jobs. He specifically means that this is a job for everyone, with additional jobs feeding in from peripheral services in local communities. Manufacturing creates positions at all levels in society, not only jobs for graduates, as happens in the many service industries we currently promote. Secondly, the jobs will be “capital and know-how” intensive. Thirdly he clarifies that this will lead to increased exports.
He cites the example of an electrical device. When it goes for export, all that needs to be included are additional languages in the user manual. If you export a service, there are many levels of cultural and social alterations required. Fingleton’s guidance to our manufacturing industry could be the positive instruction we require to retain and develop much needed employment here in Ireland.
If you wish to investigate Fingleton’s advice further, please visit his webpage for a full listing of his eminent economical and financial publications.
Eamonn Fingleton: http://www.fingleton.net/
