THE poor economists - noted for their difficulty in agreeing on anything - got another bashing at the bankers' dinner in Dublin last night. John Wright, the boss of Northern Bank and National Irish Bank, told the assembled bakers about a group of final year students sitting an economics paper. One noticed that questions were exactly the same as the previous year and drew this to the attention of the examiner.

Don't worry, the student was told, the questions may be the same, but the answers, one year on, are completely different.