Sir, – Last week in the Dáil, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, in defence of the coalition’s declared intention of selling off State assets, assured the chamber that this policy decision was based on the fact that “any economic theory you’d like to read” in the past 30 years will tell you that “assets in private hands will be used more efficiently for the public good than assets in public hands” (Dáil report, October 6th).
Has it not yet dawned on Mr Noonan that it is these very same economic theories that have brought not only this country, but the US and Europe to the catastrophic economic, social, and political pass in which it finds itself today?
Privatisation of state-owned assets, deregulation of the financial sector, liberalisation of international trade and investment, and the reduction of income-taxes have not brought about a greater and fairer distribution of wealth as promised by the disciples of the Chicago School but, on the contrary, the very opposite. Is it possible that the Minister of Finance has not noticed? Perhaps somebody should give him a copy of Paul Gillespie’s article (Opinion, October 8th). Who knows, the neo-liberal scales just might fall from his myopic free-market eyes! – Yours, etc,