DUBLIN—Ireland's economy contracted in the third quarter due to a sharp fall in business and government investment spending as a harsh austerity program kept domestic demand depressed and unemployment high
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The Central Statistics Office Friday said gross domestic product in the three months through September was 1.9% lower than in the second quarter and 0.1% lower than in the same period of 2010.
Note a central reason for the contraction -- a decline in government investment. To argue that government spending does not help the economy -- or is not part of the economy -- is so incredibly counter-factual as to defy basic logic.