Sir, – I liked Alan Dukes's article "Remember that elections are about promises not priorities" (Opinion & Analysis, February 23rd), which mentions "fiscal space" and its varied interpretations and also swats away notions that it is too difficult an idea for the populace. I think fiscal space is popular because it conjures up wide, open prairies of possibility that one can fill as one desires!
It reminds me of another phrase I encountered recently, one belonging to Thomas Piketty, who speaks about the “fiscal secession” of the wealthiest.
Public services cannot be provided, nor the poor helped, without taxing the rich, and the rich don’t like tax and tend to have the power to avoid it. Part of that power may involve suggesting that the less well-off don’t understand economic terms. – Yours, etc,
MAIRIDE WOODS,
Sutton, Dublin 13.