What I may already know: • The government makes decisions about our economy. • The Irish economy has experienced periods of growth and decline.
Learning Intentions
In this chapter, I will learn: • What economic policy is. • Why governments have economic policies. • The National Recovery Plan as a government economic policy. • The costs and benefits of the National Recovery Plan.
Key Words: Economic policy Bailout
National Recovery Plan 2011–2014
WHAT IS ECONOMIC POLICY?
You may know that different political parties have different ideas about how they would like to run the country. When a government develops a policy, the policy is influenced by the party’s values. For example, one party might believe in having high taxes to provide free services, such as hospitals and schools. Another party might believe in keeping taxes low and requiring people to pay for their own health and education needs.
Generally, there are two types of government policies:
