Public’s forbearance is not a bottomless pit

THE 12 months of 2009 were probably the worst in living memory. Sure, there have been years, even decades, in the past when things were far worse, relatively speaking, but our expectations were different then and our acceptance of hardships far higher.

In a sense we were used to it and didn’t expect anything different. Now we have a situation where anybody under the age of 30 has little real understanding of how bad things can really get. The rest of us got used to the good life and are loath to have it stop but we know we have little control. Not a particularly happy thought going into the new year. However, it’s not all bad.

Whilst we would be foolhardy to think that the so-called “green shoots” in economic recovery that are being experienced in other economies will have any positive implications for us in the short term, the fact that they exist, at least, gives us some confidence that there just might be light at the end of the tunnel.