The Irish, who’ve been slammed especially hard by the recession, are taking the basic idea that people respond to economic incentives and trying to save their economy with it. Literally -- they’ve created a competition to see who can churn out the best ideas for job creation.

The campaign, dubbed Your Country, Your Call, is a plea for the clever Irish to draft fresh proposals for businesses that will ultimately generate jobs and soften the country’s painful 12.7 percent unemployment rate. The winners, who won’t be announced until September, will receive 100,000 euros in prize money and an additional half-million to bring the idea into reality.

Your Country, Your Call is sort of far-flung as far as economy-saving schemes go. But it’s also aimed at boosting the morale of the discouraged and disgruntled Irish population by placing power in their hands. We know that people respond to economic incentives, and we also know that optimistic expectations bolster financial markets. Even if a considerable amount of job growth doesn’t come out of the project, a confidence boost might be worth the few million euros shelled out for it.

If this ends up working for Ireland, wouldn’t it be great if it could happen on a global scale? Like, all countries could pool funds and place bets on whose GDP will grow the fastest, and the winner treats the losers to a round of drinks or something?