Madam, - David Begg (July 23rd) says that "our 20-year dalliance with neo-liberalism will end in tears", and that we should "emulate the Nordic countries" when it comes to healthcare and social policy.
Mr Begg seems to forget that countries such as Sweden and Denmark have much higher tax burdens than we do - when social contributions, income and consumption taxes are taken into account, a third of full-time employed Swedes face a tax wedge above 70 per cent. Meanwhile, Denmark's top income tax band is a whooping 59 per cent. With a standard income tax rate of 20 per cent here, talk of universal healthcare seems idealistic at best. Now, a time of economic gloom, it should be especially clear that the money for such ambitious schemes has to come from somewhere. This taken into account, we have to decide whether we want more money in our pockets, or in the black hole that is the State coffers. It would be deeply unpopular and politically impossible to raise taxes here by any great amount. Remember the 1980s, anyone? - Yours, etc,
JOHN POWER, Maynooth, Co Kildare.