Ireland

Ireland transformed from one of Western Europe's poorest economies to one of its richest in a single generation — the Celtic Tiger boom driven by aggressive foreign direct investment attraction through low corporate tax rates, an English-speaking educated workforce, and EU single market access. The 12.5% corporate tax rate (now minimum 15% under OECD agreement) attracted Apple, Google, Microsoft, Pfizer, and hundreds of multinationals, creating a dual economy where multinational-dominated sectors report enormous productivity while domestic firms lag significantly behind. Irish GDP figures are famously distorted by multinational accounting: the 26% GDP growth reported in 2015 (dubbed 'leprechaun economics') reflected corporate restructuring, not real economic activity. Ireland uses Modified Gross National Income (GNI*) to measure actual domestic economic activity, which is roughly 40% smaller than headline GDP. The governance system is a parliamentary democracy where coalition formation is the norm and a written constitution gives the Supreme Court significant interpretive authority. Ireland's economic model resembles a cleaner fish: the organism prospers by providing services (low taxes, regulatory clarity, English law) that larger organisms (multinationals) value enough to anchor in Irish jurisdiction.