Editing Liam Cosgrave (section)

===Economic measures===
The Cosgrave government's tough austerity measures alienated the public. Finance Minister Richie Ryan was nicknamed 'Richie Ruin' on a satirical TV programme, ''[[Hall's Pictorial Weekly]]''. Marginal income tax rates came to 77% one year. The electorate had not experienced unemployment and hardship of this nature since the fifties and the Government became quite unpopular. The hard-line approach to law and order, and the economic difficulties were quite damaging to Cosgrave and Corish's popularity.