Madam, – John Bruton in his apocalyptic critique (Opinion Analysis, May 10th) of Morgan Kelly’s equally apocalyptic opinion piece (May 7th) takes him to task for ignoring the lessons of our economic history.
Yes, it is true that when we refused to pay land annuities to the UK in the 1930s some of our critical exports were excluded from the UK market. But, as Donal Ó Drisceoil argues in the current issue of History Ireland (“When Dev Defaulted”), the negative effects of the ensuing Economic War have been exaggerated and in the long run de Valera was vindicated by the 1938 Anglo-Irish Trade Agreement. Not only was the annuities issue settled with a one-off payment (a fraction of the amount “owed”) but the agreement also included the return of the Treaty ports, which undoubtedly spared us from involvement in a devastating world war.
De Valera may not have been strong on economics but at least he had balls, something that cannot be said for this or the previous government. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Morgan Kelly’s article reminded me of the late Raymond Crotty who, in a not dissimilar crisis in the early 1980s, proposed that the then government repudiate the national debt.
When it was suggested to him that this might make it rather difficult for Irish governments to borrow for quite a long time thereafter, he calmly replied that this would have the salutary impact of making Irish governments live within their means.
Plus ça change. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Now we know why it’s called the dismal science. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – It has been said that academic rows are the most vicious because there is so little at stake. In the Kelly/Honohan spat, there is a lot at stake because they are the “experts” and they are arguing and differing on the future of the country.
God be with the good old days when Prof Honohan would have immediately sent his “friend” to arrange a meeting in the Phoenix Park and it would have been pistols for two and coffee for one. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Whom should I believe? The choice is between an academic who appears to have become an apologist for the Fianna Fáil finance minister who signed off on the ECB-IMF deal, or another academic that Fianna Fáil appointed to be governor of our Central Bank. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Does anybody else share my utter despair at the extreme diversity of opinion among our eminent economists as to how we should proceed from here? If they are all so brilliant, then why can they not agree on the correct solution? After Morgan Kelly’s terrifying prognosis last Saturday, we have, as usual, been bombarded by a bewildering array of divergent reaction from all the so-called experts, leaving us ordinary citizens reeling in a state of profound confusion. And I read today that an American academic (Business Today, May 10th) has thrown in her tuppence worth, by suggesting that we abandon the euro and relaunch the pound.
Just what are we to believe? — Yours, etc,
Madam, – Morgan Kelly gives us two stark choices: revolution or anarchy.
In the first, we shut the State down to establish a new economic order and tell the ECB to take their banks back. We don’t want them. They’ve paid for them so they should keep them.
Then we appropriate indigenous resources to finally bring the budget into balance, and never mind the pain. The energy and hard work of the inhabitants will ensure our success. Ireland will signal to the rest of the world that we are back in business.
If we do not do so, the second scenario will face us – anarchy. No political party will have the respect of the people. Elections will be futile. Constitutionally we will be in the dustbin and the next taoisech, if that is possible, will be the one who can deliver the best anti-Honohan jokes. No utilities will mean that the major cities will cease to function. There will be a mass exodus to the countryside, where the people will eke out an existence on milk and potatoes.
Prof Morgan is right. The time for revolution is now. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Morgan Kelly for taoiseach, before it’s too late. – Yours, etc,