Economic crisis adds up to a zero sum game

THE zero on my keyboard is more exhausted than a spin-doctor.

The census of 2006 counted nearly 1,500,000 households in Ireland. A recent CSO report said almost half of them would have to borrow to pay an unexpected bill for €1,000 during 2009.

If the other 750,000 households withdrew an average of €1,000 from their bank accounts and bought prize bonds instead, those withdrawals would total €750,000,000.