World View:While some in Ireland are looking with interest at the rise of the "new left" in Latin America, key policymakers there are looking to Ireland to help them move into what they describe as "post neoliberalism", as I discovered on a recent visit to Argentina and Uruguay, writes Peadar Kirby.
To influence the policies of the incoming government of Cristina Fernández Kirchner, a group of Argentine academics, non-governmental organisations and trade unions chose four countries they regard as models of successful development from which Argentina has much to learn. Ireland, which they describe as "one of the economic miracles of the end of the last century", is one; the others are Sweden, South Korea and Brazil.
For this group, which has close ties to the Kirchner administration, Argentina's recent recovery from the economic and social crisis of 2001-2002, with economic growth booming at about 8 per cent for the fourth consecutive year, hides deeper problems that need to be resolved.
As they put it in outlining their current project: "A long period of neoliberal policies has eroded the cultural, intellectual and economic life of the nation, transforming this once promising country into a society in permanent decline."
Despite the current economic boom, "some of the main structural issues are still pending definition", they add. Among these, they identify the lack of "a clear overall long-term strategy for economic development".
"The state's role lacks definition, public policy is on the recovery and, above all, the social policy remains obscure," they say. The change of government on December 10th offers an opportunity "to begin the debate to form a long-term strategy for social and economic development".
To kickstart such a debate, the group's project consists of organising half-day seminars for policymakers and opinion formers on each of the four countries. The first of these seminars was on Ireland and I was invited as the keynote speaker.
The group prepared a 50-page analysis of the policies that resulted in Ireland's success and this was given to all who attended my talk.
The paper identified three dimensions of Ireland's policies from which Argentina could learn: economic planning, social partnership and welfare policies.
I was invited to offer a fuller analysis of each dimension.
The extensive media coverage of the event, with television, radio and newspaper interviews, indicated the lively public interest in Ireland's success.
Many of my interviewers focused on how this success was achieved. One television interviewer asked: "Ireland is often interpreted here as an example of the success of liberal free-market policies. Do you agree?"
As was clear from the paper on Ireland, funded by the Argentine Federation of Rental Workers and Condominiums and the Institute for the Argentine Model, and prepared by researchers at the Centre for State and Market Strategies, the organisers of the project interpret Ireland's success differently.
"Behind the Irish model, there were several operating tools which helped in the development of Ireland. The role of the State as a main element, especially since Ireland has a strong State organisation," says the paper. "The whole Irish model may be analysed as a continuous trade-off between State and Market."
It is, then, the nature of this trade-off and how it has been achieved that most interests the Latin American new left. Particular interest was expressed about how Ireland managed to attract such high levels of foreign investment, and I was closely questioned on the precise means used by the State to achieve this.
The Argentines also highlighted the EU's contribution to Ireland's success. In comparison with the relative weakness of the South American integration process in Mercosur, the role of EU structural and cohesion funds evoked much interest.
The final dimension of Ireland's success is social partnership - a live issue in Latin America. Indeed, on the very day that I briefed government planners in the office for planning and budgeting in Uruguay, a newspaper carried an interview with the country's leading trade unionist on the prospects for a social accord.
Juan Castillo, co-ordinator of CIT-CNT, the country's only trade union confederation, made clear that his movement would not consider entering such an accord if it was being asked "to commit itself not to mobilise, not to struggle".
One essential demand of the trade union movement, if it is to enter a national social accord, he said, is that the state play a central role through investing in key industries rather than depending on foreign investment.
He called, not just for a reform of the state, as proposed by Uruguay's left-wing government, but "the transformation of the state so that it is at the service of production".
At two briefings for government planners that day, I was again questioned in detail about how social partnership was sustained over 20 years in Ireland.
It is obvious that drawing the social partners to the negotiating table is proving more difficult in Uruguay than in Ireland in 1987.
I explained the role of the National Economic and Social Council in providing the basis for national partnership negotiations through its analyses of the economic and social situation.
The decisive turn to the left in South American politics is generating a lively debate on how the region can find a more sustainable path to development and on how to share the benefits of growth more equally among its many poor. While Ireland is being looked to for lessons, the basic lessons being sought are how to fashion a state that can make a real difference.
Peadar Kirby is professor of international politics and public policy at University of Limerick