Home ownership VS. Emmigration in Ireland
Richard Florida has made some great points concerning US home-ownership:
“…the two American dreams – of homeownership and of unfettered economic mobility – may be in conflict, as homeownership, especially in downturns like today, impedes mobility and makes it harder for individuals to move to work and the labor market on the whole to adjust. “
This is even more apparent in a country like Ireland that has two huge competing drivers; a very mobile population that continuously seeks work around the world, producing the Diaspora and a deep attachment to land and property that is the historical legacy of being a European colony for so long.
Check out this chart from the Economist; Note comparable countries have much bigger populations/economies then Ireland:
