Ghost Economy

After the collapse of Lehman Brothers, one of the biggest banks of the planet, in September 2008, the entire world awoke after a long dream of easy money. The weakness of the financial derivatives on which artificial growth was built led us to a credit crunch. The consequences were the increase of the interest rates on mortgages and a huge number of house repossessions. Ireland is a perfect example of how violent the slump was. After a period of sane growth (the first half of Celtic Tiger period) speculation on properties led to an economic bubble. Reading the newspaper of this time is enough to understand it: the prices were higher than in Manhattan! But a few years ago the bubble burst, and the wild animal turned into one of the most endebted countries in Europe. The effects on the economy are terrible: 15 percent unemployment, big cuts in social benefits...