Madam, – Jim O’Leary (Business Today, June 25th) is quite wrong: “slumper” will not do. If the boom got boomier, then surely, over the past year, the slump has just got slumpier.
Sadly, as a result Ireland is one of the slumpiest countries in Europe. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – It’s hard to imagine a plan worse for the economy than the Government’s proposal to spend €1 billion subsidising wages at businesses that malinvested during the boom (“Government ready to pledge €1bn to protect jobs at risk”, June 24th).
Any job that needs subsidisation is a destructive job that consumes more wealth than it produces.
We should welcome the disappearance of these destructive jobs, as a patient welcomes an unpleasant but beneficial treatment.
The recession will only end when these jobs are gone and the labour and capital they are currently wasting becomes free to contribute to the creation of sustainable growth and productive employment.
As difficult as losing your job is, it cannot compare to the difficulties of living in a country that taxes productive businesses to subsidise the destruction of wealth. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – William Mullen (June 22nd) suggests The Irish Times should convene a symposium of economists from academia to debate the economic problems facing our country and possible solutions. I am not sure that would help.
JK Galbraith, perhaps the greatest economist of all, once said the only function of economic forecasting was to make astrology look respectable. – Yours, etc,