Business Opinion: Number 646 in our bank holiday series looking behind the major issues of the day continues....writes John McManus.

Who do the OECD think they are?

Excuse me?

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The Paris-based economic think-tank funded by 30 countries.

What about them?

Who do they think they are?

I suspect they think they are a 30-member Paris-based economic think-tank.

It's going to be like that is it? Are you in one of your moods?

I am sorry. Please go on ...

Thank you. The OECD. Last week they published a report on the Irish economy that had every body jumping around the place.

To be precise, I think they had you types in the media jumping around.

Whatever. What I want to know is why exactly we get so excited about a report that basically tells us something that we know already.

I see. You are unhappy that despite the massive growth in national self confidence that occurred during the Celtic Tiger years, we are still incredibly sensitive to what others think about us. The post colonial cultural cringe thing ...

No. That's not what I mean at all.

Right. In that case you had better explain.

It's all that stuff in the report about underpinning the competitiveness of the Irish economy. More regulatory reform. Tighter control of government spending. The need to link benchmarking payments to tangible improvements in the public service. The need to better manage big investment projects. All that ...

What about it?

We've heard it all before. I mean, do they seriously think it is news that "the era of the 'Celtic Tiger', has given way to a more normal, albeit still rapid of expansion"?

So they indulge in a bit of hyperbole when writing their report. Big deal.

No it's worse than that. There is nothing in the report that we have not really heard before.

From whom?

The usual suspects, mostly the Minster for Finance, but also other Ministers, social partners etcetera ...

You seem surprised

I am.

Well, they do talk to all these people. The OECD said that its team made two separate trips to Ireland of about 10 days' duration. One was in October and the other in January. While they are here they make it their business to talk to the Minister for Finance, the Central Bank, people from IBEC, ICTU and so on.

That makes perfect sense. But what I don't understand is why they seem to agree with them on everything.

Ah. Now I understand. Well, let me refer you to an interesting little item that appeared last week in Handelsblatt, the German financial newspaper.

I didn't know you could speak German.

Don't be tiresome. According to this article, the German government got the OECD to tweak their most recent report on Germany and play down some of the negative stuff

How could this happen?

Well, my man in the OECD tells me that what happens is that after the country report has been prepared a draft gets sent to a review committee.

Who is on the committee?

A representative from each of the 30 members, including the country that is the subject of the report.

What do they do?

Well, they review the report and suggest changes.

You mean they correct the spellings?

No. They make substantial changes. Countries can object to conclusions that are drawn, the emphasis put on things and so forth.

Is this what happened with the German report?

So it seems. According to Handelsblatt, an unnamed official said: "Germany turned up the pressure to soften the report in a way I've never experienced in the past before."

Dear me!

It gets worse. Apparently a sentence that read: "It is inconceivable the budget can be balanced in the short term. A stronger, longer-term strategy is required" was replaced by the following: "The Federal government has committed itself to a policy of strong budgetary consolidation and is current tied into a consolidation package ..."

That's not the same thing at all. Those naughty Germans. Anyway, I am sure that we would not indulge in such shenanigans.

I would not bet on it.

What?

The Department of Finance says that it did request changes to the report on Ireland issued last week.

No!

Yes, quite a few of them, but they declined to says what they were ...

I think I can guess ...