Sins of the Father Out Now
Just to let ILR (RSS and email sub) readers know Conor McCabe’s book Sins of the Father: Tracing the Decisions that Shaped the Irish Economy is available from the publisher The History Press, Ireland and various online book retail outfits. It’s due in bookshops this weekend. We’ll keep you posted on the launch.
From the publisher’s description:
The questions surrounding how the Irish economy was brought to the brink, who was to blame, and who should pay for these mistakes, have been rightly debated at length. But beyond this very legitimate exercise, there are deeper questions that need to be answered.
These questions relate to why we made the decisions we did, not just in the last 10 years, but over the last 80. How did certain industries become prominent at the expense of others, banking as opposed to fisheries, international markets as opposed to indigenous industry and job creation?
Are our problems structural in nature, and most importantly, what do we need to know to make sure that this crisis does not happen again?
These are the questions set by this book. It will look at the development of the Irish economy over the past eight decades, and will argue that the 2008 financial crisis, up to and including the IMF bailout of 2010 and the subsequent change of government, cannot be explained simply by the moral failings of those in banking or property development alone. The problems are deeper, more intricate, and more dangerous if we remain unaware of them, but also potentially avoidable in the future if we break the cycle.
The genisis of the book came from this post, Lights of the City and the rest of Conor’s contributions can be seen here. More details anon, as they say.
Discussion
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Comment by: Tomboktu
Jun 10th 2011 at 20:06
Went to get it today in Connolly books. Not is stick for a while yet — the distributors don’t have it here yet.
Was puzzled by a guy across the shop who laughed when my question was yelled across the shop floor to the man he was talking to. The Man He Was Talking To was explained that the laugh was because the Laughing Customer had just been given the bad news on its unavailability before I entered.
There is clearly a conspiracy agaonst us getting it quickly!
Comment by: William Wall
Jun 12th 2011 at 11:06
Bought! The Book Depository is selling it as of now, though I’d have preferred to get it at Connolly Books!
Comment by: Tomboktu
Jun 12th 2011 at 11:06
Ah but … is it actually in your hands?
Comment by: William Wall
Jun 12th 2011 at 12:06
Touché Tombuktu! It could be argued that I have already fulfilled my role (duty?) as a consumer by buying the commodity and whether or not it becomes my property is irrelevant. Furthermore, as a consumer in the just-in-time process I can expect to wait a lot longer than someone who expected to wait in the first place and used the old-fashioned analogue method of buying books - i.e. shank’s mare to the shop, conversation (even including humour) and the exchange of statements as to desire and declarations of intent as to value etc. Unfortunately, in my case the analogue method would have involved a long train journey and I am not sanguine of the book appearing soon in Cork bookshops, though I will make a point of enquiring loudly.