Losing control of our own destiny

WHAT is most despairing about the continuing sacrifice of the future prosperity of the Irish to protect the house of cards that is the current economic model is the lack of recognition of the failings of this model by our political elite.

As Western economies departed from the Keynesian model from the 1980s onwards, spurred on by the disciples of Milton Friedman, the social protections afforded by regulation were cast aside and the concept of a social dividend abandoned in the pursuit of profit.

The cry at the time was that regulated systems were inefficient and not providing value for money for taxpayers. But instead of reforming these systems while maintaining the social contract they were handed over to the intangible “free market” which has no interest in a social dividend. Even worse, all our futures are now tied up in this structure through our pensions so that in times of crisis such as the last few years the markets can turn around and more or less say, “help us out or you have no future”.