Word: irelands
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Like many of the records it charts, the Guinness book was the product of a can-do spirit and the need to validate one's pride. In 1951, Sir Hugh Beaver, the managing director of the Guinness Brewery, went on a hunting trip with friends in Ireland. Though he considered himself an excellent shot, Beaver was unable to bag any golden plovers. Wounded, Beaver suggested the bird might be the fastest in Europe. Upon returning from the trip, neither he nor his friends were able to locate a reference book that provided the answer...
...Still, Ireland remains an attractive place to do business. It's blessed with a growing labor force of young workers, and it measures up well, too, in terms of taxes: its corporate tax rate of 12.5% is one of the E.U.'s lowest, while levies on labor and capital stack up well against rivals. That's one reason the world's second biggest advertising firm, WPP, announced in September that it plans to shift its headquarters from the U.K. to Ireland; and why pharmaceutical company Shire and publishers United Business Media both announced similar plans earlier this year. The arrival...
Such a rebound will be welcomed by the Irish government. Thanks to the fall in tax receipts caused by the housing-market collapse, Ireland's budget deficit is forecast to hit 5.5% of GDP this year - well beyond the 3% limit imposed by Brussels. That has left Dublin little room to spend its way out of trouble, a fact made clear when Finance Minister Lenihan announced a slew of tax hikes and spending cuts...
...Europe and the U.S. But with credit markets freezing over, the government has guaranteed deposits and debts for a handful of big lenders, amounting to well over $500 billion in liabilities, more than twice the country's GDP. The next step will be to ensure credit gets to Ireland's good-quality businesses over the next year or two, says Davy's White. On Grafton Street, Weir & Sons is among the luckier ones. It owns its black-and-gold-fronted store, so at least it doesn't have to worry about rent. And its prime location makes the shop popular...
...inspire whole societies (and help pad the numbers): The authors assigned heavy points to countries where women were in charge of government. Countries with female presidents or prime ministers include: #2 Finland, #5 New Zealand (Prime Minister Helen Clark was recently voted out of office), #6 Philippines and #8 Ireland...