Sir, – JD Mangan's anger at austerity is perhaps understandable (August 19th), but his statistical arguments seem a bit confused. He mentions the share of wealth accruing to the top 10 per cent and the bottom 50 per cent of earners. Does he mean income rather than wealth? There is a difference.
A recent ESRI study, The Great Recession, Austerity and Inequality: Evidence from Ireland, shows relatively small changes in the overall degree of inequality of disposable incomes between 2008 and 2013.
The main result of the Great Recession was to substantially reduce the absolute level of income for all income groups. The situation would have been much worse if it were not for the highly progressive tax and transfer system. There were especially large falls in income for those who lost their jobs, but these individuals could come from any part of the pre-recession income distribution.
Austerity was not a policy choice for Ireland given the huge mistakes made prior to 2008: it was the unfortunate but inevitable consequence of those mistakes. We forget this at our peril. – Yours, etc,
JOHN SHEEHAN,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 14.