Sir, – Fintan O’Toole writes that “the great difference between politics and science is not that the first is full of chancers and the second isn’t” (“Truss’s gospel of disruption is to move fast and break things”, Weekend Review, October 16th) but then goes on to take most of his examples not from politics, but from business and economics. He also assumes that this new gospel of disruption results in not only in cheaper, but “poorer-quality product”, an assertion that many of the new entrepreneurs would contest.
Take two of the cases he quotes. He will be flying using Aer Lingus this weekend, using a standard taxi service to get to the airport. In the mid-1980s, Aer Lingus charged around €300 for the Dublin to London route, the equivalent of about €1,450 today. In those times, he would probably have great difficulty getting a taxi at all as taxi licences were in very short supply and cost around €80,000. The Ryanair revolution, which democratised air transport, has made air travel available to all, and Aer Lingus has survived largely by copying it. The taxi industry has also opened up, through the Government making licences widely available at a fraction of the earlier cost, another disruptive revolution. These changes have been of great benefit to many.
Fintan O’Toole goes on to criticise “tickle-down economics”, by which he means “the rich get richer, ordinary incomes improve very little . . . Big tax cuts for the rich don’t pay for themselves”.
Unfortunately he does not quote any expert sources for this claim. I share with him the experience of paying PAYE at 65 per cent with PRSI and levies on top of that. Cutting the top tax rate in Ireland did in fact result in higher, not lower, tax revenues for the State, through factors such as economic growth and less tax evasion. It then becomes a political decision as to how these additional resources available to the State are distributed.
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Of course it is deeply disturbing that neo-fascist groups are gaining support across Europe, even in countries with a very liberal history. However, this rise is not based on destructive economics but on these governments failing to heed the real concerns of its citizens. – Yours, etc,
DONAL McGRATH,
Greystones,
Co Wicklow.