Forthcoming: Comparative Economic Studies Learning from the Irish Experience – a clinical case study in banking failure Constantin Gurdgiev School of Business Studies and Institute for International Integration Studies (IIIS), Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland. Email
[email protected] Charles Larkin: School of Business Studies and Institute for International Integration Studies (IIIS), Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland. and Cardiff School of Management ,Cardiff Metropolitan University, Llandaff Campus , Western Avenue , Cardiff , CF5 2YB , UK. Email:
[email protected] Brian M Lucey: (corresponding author): School of Business Studies and Institute for International Integration Studies (IIIS), Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland. Glasgow Business School, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, G4 0BA, United Kingdom. Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana Kardeljeva, Ploscad 17 Ljubljana, 1000, Slovenia. Email:
[email protected] Banking, Ireland, Regulation, Collapse JEL Codes: G21, G28 Abstract We present a review of the Irish banking collapse, detailing its origins in a confluence of events. We suggest that the very concentrated nature of the Irish banking sector which will emerge from the policy decisions taken as a consequence of the collapse runs a risk of a second crisis. We survey the literature on siZe and efficiency and suggest some alternative policy approaches 1 Introduction The global financial crisis, manifesting itself first and foremost within the US and European financial services sector, has been associated with significant economic shocks. The core shock, as seen from a Western European perspective, was the creation of a series of contagion loops between the real economy, national fiscal positions and the banking sector. This was caused by the linkages of funding and asset streams, and by the creation of systems of sovereign guarantees and supports that have emerged since 2008.