It has been well said that comparison is to the social sciences what experimentation is to the natural ones. We have much to learn by comparing Ireland's performance under various headings with that of other states.
A singular example in recent years has been the A.T. Kearney/Foreign Policy Globalisation Index. As is reported in these pages today, Ireland has topped the list as the most globalised state for the third year in a row based on data from 2002, due to the country's deep economic links and high levels of personal contact with the rest of the world.
This list is based on readily available statistical indices and data weighted according to specified criteria. It gives special prominence to foreign direct investment because of its particular importance for global economic integration, along with trade, portfolio capital flows and investment income. But this is by no means only an economic measure. It deals also with personal contact, technological connectivity and political engagement, taking account of such varied phenomena as tourism, international telephone traffic, internet use, membership of international organisations and government transfers.
Ireland's prominence in the list reveals just how thoroughly internationalised this State has become. Economically the year 2002 saw an FDI flow of $24.7 billion here, including substantial new US investment in the high technology and pharmaceutical sectors. A strong showing in the number of secure servers per capita bolstered that performance, as did high scores for growth, travel, remittances, personal transfers and UN peacekeeping.
Compared to most of the other states in this list's top 10 - Singapore, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Finland, Canada, the United States, New Zealand, Austria and Denmark - Ireland has considerable ground to make up in economic development, social and physical infrastructure and social equality. That shows up in other international rankings, such as the UN's Human Development Index or the European Commission's Third Report on Economic and Social Cohesion, examined in these pages yesterday, which allows comparison with regions of larger states.
This globalisation index measures economic integration and openness to the world, above all. To hold Ireland's comparative position on it in future years it will be necessary to maintain the existing regulatory framework which enables such economic and social mobility. But Ireland also needs to develop and consolidate its ability to attract investments further up the value chain and in emerging technologies. A strategic vision for the next decade will be required to focus attention on those tasks.