Sir, – While admiring the commitment of the new Greek government to tackle corruption and tax avoidance, I am at the same time reminded of the old adage that one of the problems with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people’s money. – Yours, etc,
ANDREW DOYLE,
Lislevane,
Bandon,
Co Cork.
Sir, – Niall Ginty claims (February 10th) that the Greek people elected "a government that has more in common with the old guard of communist dictatorships than it has with any current European democracy".
Syriza is a democratic socialist party, and its action programme for the Greek economy has been endorsed by such "extremists" as the economist Paul Krugman and the Financial Times commentator Wolfgang Munchau.
Two of its first actions on taking office were to remove the security barriers from the Athens parliament and to grant citizenship to all children born in Greece.
This certainly makes for a striking contrast with Europe’s political mainstream, where governments compete to pass repressive legislation while pandering to bigotry. – Yours, etc,
DANIEL FINN,
London.
Sir, – Surely the way to really get an economy going, especially that of Greece and those of all the other struggling countries in Europe, is to put a moratorium on these loans for five years without any accumulation of interest.
Then those countries could really get back on their feet. – Yours, etc,
KEVIN BYRNE,
Bantry,
Co Cork.
Sir, – In Ireland we have a joke where if a stranger asks for directions and the route is very complicated, you might answer by saying “Well if I were you, I wouldn’t start from here”.
It’s the same with the current euro crisis. A currency still not fit for purpose. A Europe where trust between member states is fast eroding and where politicians in all member states make promises they can’t keep or tell their edited version of the truth to their citizens. Yes, there were reckless borrowers and some lived beyond their means but equally there were reckless lenders and tons of cash fuelled by low interest rates to suit certain member states flowed across European borders in a torrent.
Those who were lucky enough to grab a lifeboat should now help the other survivors to clamber aboard or at least throw a lifebuoy. The solution will not be just between Greece and Germany; we need a European solution, one that does not reward or promote moral hazard but one that is sustainable for all member states.
Yes we would prefer not to start from here – but we are here and we must start. – Yours, etc,
MARIAN HARKIN, MEP
European Parliament,
Brussels.