The recession is affecting everyone in Ireland and the reasons are many, not least the global economic situation. While we might not realise it, every country is facing problems and some, believe it or not, are far worse that we are experience.

Did you watch the Oscars? If you were, you were probably envious of the Californian lifestyle and the glitz and the glamour of Los Angeles. But what you may not have realised is that California is bust. California is so big that if was a country in its own right it would be the seventh largest in the world.

Public service workers - teachers, nurses, policemen - are losing their jobs. Housing projects are being shut down. And even the Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is finding the going rough. He’s the Governor of California and he’s under some serious pressure.

In Ireland, we have problems and some of them stem from a loss of competitiveness. The members of government’s think tank, the National Competitiveness Council (NCC), should try doing the lotto, because they’re pretty good at predicting what’s going to happen.

In their reports, they’ve been plotting our loss of competitiveness:

• How our wage costs are rising compared with other economies
• How our public services need to be transformed
• How energy costs are causing problems for businesses and
• How our educational system needs to be more in tune with the real needs of the economy going forward. In other words, we need more people studying maths, science and technology.

NCC reports don’t make for pleasant reading. But if you want to bone up on the Irish economy, they’ll give you plenty of ammunition.

Download the National Competitiveness Report 2008 [PDF, 1MB]