Contents: Introduction; Ireland in profile: an improbable tiger habitat; Rich man, poor man: but is it a tiger economy?; The accidental tiger; The sample and the methodological approach; A profile of the Irish economic disposition; Explaining the profile using Marx's historical materialism; Explaining the profile using Elias' figurational sociology; Explaining the profile using the insights of Weber, Freud, Durkheim, Parsons and Giddens; Conclusion: a theory of limits; Appendices; Bibliography; Index.