Madam, – Moore McDowell’s withering sarcasm (Letters, May 25th) at the expense of the Department of Finance will not be easily forgotten. The botched definition of GDP and GNP was bad enough: the statement that senior debt owed by the banks is automatically guaranteed without the need for any intervention by the state was beyond belief.
I myself have only a master’s degree in economics and I am not a practising economist. Nevertheless, I have a modest proposal to make.
When the time comes in September to review the banks’ guarantee, why not reduce the one for Anglo Irish Bank from 100 per cent to 50 per cent on the grounds that the bank was manifestly a dangerous risk from the start and that therefore lenders, including foreign banks, should be prepared to take 50 per cent of the rap? I put this forward as the Thornley Compromise. It appears to be elementary justice, and justice is a good guide in economics as in other matters. – Yours, etc,