Ireland's GDP Growth Figures Misleading Due to Multinational Accounting Practices, GNI* Provides Better Economic Measure
-
Ireland's GDP growth figures are distorted by how multinational firms account for assets, IP, and profits. This makes GDP an unreliable measure of the Irish economy.
-
Ireland's role as a hub for aircraft leasing and intellectual property of multinational firms inflates measures like GDP and GNI.
-
New statistical standards that count R&D spending as investment rather than expenditure have greatly increased Ireland's reported capital stock.
-
Modified domestic demand (MDD) provides a better measure by excluding trade and problematic investment, but still has drawbacks.
-
GNI* is the best available measure of Ireland's economy. It makes adjustments to exclude distortions from multinationals' activities in Ireland.