Message in a bubble: elect a responsible government

IN his letter (July 7), Brian McDermott refers to the comments by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan as to the causes of the present economic difficulties arising to the greatest extent from the low interest rates and the influx of cheap labour from eastern Europe, going on then to say “...we need to retain and regain as much power in Ireland as possible to get us out of this sorry mess”.

It is to be expected Mr Lenihan would seek to divert our attention from the real issue — Brian McDermott misses the point. The deregulation of the financial markets to the extent allowed and encouraged by Thatcher and Reagan led to the development of commercial practices that inevitably create a bubble that is certain to burst, as was the case in Britain in the early 1970s, in the late 1980s, and as now has occurred in US and Europe.

Responsible lenders in Britain up to the early 2000s restricted lending to three times disposable income.