Conceptual ambiguities and statistical weaknesses hamper the assessment of external competitiveness. The term … competitiveness, while applied extensively, is often imprecisely defined, which can result in analytical errors and mistaken policy … advice. Furthermore, aggregate statistical measures of competitiveness in terms of exchange rate misalignment can be biased …

evolution of Ireland’s competitiveness over the same period. Changes in expectations of the currency’s devaluation can be … to exceed investors’ realignment expectations at that time as well as the loss of Irish competitiveness since the …