A chara, – Doctors, scientists, and healthcare experts are reluctant to speculate on future developments in the treatment of and response to Covid-19. That is because Covid-19 is unprecedented and they lack empirical evidence on which they base any projections for the future. That is good scientific practice. No such inhibitions deter, it appears, our eminent economists, among them the incoming chairman of the Fiscal Advisory Council (Sebastian Barnes, "Fiscal Advisory Council: Return to austerity can be avoided", Opinion & Analysis, April 27th). He is happy to speculate on how things might turn out over the next couple of years. The fact that nothing like this has happened in 100 years and the consequential dearth of empirical evidence does not seem to deter economists in the way in which it deters real scientists. Who was it said that economics is related to science in the same way that astrology is related to astronomy? – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN RYAN,
Montenotte,
Cork.
Sir, – Sebastian Barnes makes some very interesting and relevant observations on the economic landscape. However one of his comments intrigues me: “. . . the State is over-reliant on corporation tax receipts, which accounted for one in six euro of revenue in 2019”.
I would have thought exactly the opposite based on the increasingly aggressive tax practices by large companies, including publicly listed Irish companies, in tax minimisation schemes over the years, highlighted by the almost €15 billion held in escrow accounts by Apple and the Government.
Perhaps Mr Barnes could write another article on why corporation tax receipts should not be 25 per cent of total government revenue. – Yours, etc,
DAVID McCABE,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.