In Poland and Ireland the demographic timebomb is ticking away. There are ever fewer workers to support ever greater numbers of burdensome old folk. Amazingly, Ireland has found a dual solution: mass redundancies and more procreation:

Irish Times: Birth Rate Highest for 110 Years

Central Statistics Office: Irish Unemployment Rate Reaches 12.2%

Another oddity is that house prices also go down:

Irish Times: Irish House Prices Fall 24% since 2007

And remember how home-taping — sorry, the internet — was killing music?

Irish Times: Profits at Warner Music’s Irish Subsidiary Increase by 70%
Whodathunkit? And although some gloomy types might bring up that old recession, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

Irish Times: Welfare fraud action saves €300,000

See? There’s loads of cash swilling around the old country. Just nabbing a few dole cheats will enable us to plug the hole in the economy and bail out the bankers.