Society must face up to the harsh reality

When all is said and done, the key role that economics should play is in providing guidance and analysis to policymakers in their quest to achieve the best possible outcomes in an environment of scarce resources.

The fundamental reality of life is that resources are by definition finite and wants or desires are virtually infinite. It will never be possible to please all of the people all of the time and so choices have to be made, and, inevitably, these choices will not please everybody.

In fact, at the moment our Government is struggling badly to use its very limited resources in a manner that will please virtually anybody. If one considers some of the realities out there at the moment then one could quickly come to the conclusion that governing Ireland in the current environment is virtually impossible.