Sir, – Might I suggest that Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy should marry (or at least move in together)? Then one or the other could be nominated by Fianna Fáil or the Technical Group to stand for the presidency of Ireland. We should elect them for 14 years for safety’s sake, and in the meantime we could offer one of our three Gays to Germany and France. We might all be better off. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Michael Noonan, in his welcome for the proposal to constitutionally limit government deficits to 3 per cent, seems already to have forgotten how we got where we are (Front page, August 17th).
He blames Charlie McCreevy’s policies, rightly, but forgets that Fianna Fáil could have destroyed our economy without ever breaching the 3 per cent limit. The borrowing that destroyed us was done by the private sector and the damage was already done before the long-term hole in our public finances became apparent. The proposed solution only prevents the use of vital Keynesian stimulus, while doing nothing to prevent a repeat of our crash.
The real problem in the periphery is poor governance. This is partly cultural. There is also in Ireland’s case (as in Iceland’s) the fact that a small democracy can no longer prevail against the wishes of its own oligarchy, grown disproportionately rich because of globalisation.
We should make a counter-offer to the well-run countries of northern Europe, who cannot be expected to keep paying the price while waiting patiently for cultural changes in the periphery. We should concede that all allegations of political corruption are dealt with by a European FBI. We should adopt strict rules on the funding of political parties, again policed by a European body. If you remove the incentive for sociopathic chancers to indulge in politics you can improve public policy at a stroke, without waiting for any cultural change. Since our debt was generated by the financial sector, we should also concede financial regulation to an EU body.
What the taxpayers of Germany and France most need, and deserve, is an assurance that this will never happen again. The measures I have suggested give that guarantee more surely that the crude budget-balancing diktat, mindlessly welcomed by Mr Noonan. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Did the power brokers in Europe deliberately create the economic crisis that we are in at present so as to force us, and the other countries within the euro zone, into a United States of Europe? I believe they did so, and with the compliance of all those who persuaded the Irish electorate into accepting all the various treaties which have got us to into this crisis situation. – Yours, etc,