World needs better, not smaller, government

THE influence of the fundamentalist Tea Party on the current budgetary impasse in the US cannot be understated and has the potential to plunge the world economy into further chaos.

For some on this fanatical wing of the Republican party this would not be seen as such a bad thing as it might bring forward the Rapture, of which some of them are so fond. Their belief that small government would bring more prosperity to the US population is delusional and is motivated more by social conservatism than any altruistic notion of helping their fellow man.

The more than 40 million people in the US currently living off food stamps will not be helped by smaller government. What is needed there, and also in Ireland, is not smaller government but better government. A more efficient, transparent, accountable and less bureaucratic system which protects social services and provides a safety net for the most vulnerable.

This would provide the step up people need to get back and start helping the economy as consumers. The insistence of the Tea Party on no contribution by the wealthy to the deficit reduction, and their view that funding for the most vulnerable should be cut, is self-defeating as it will facilitate the continuing cycle of credit-fuelled boom and bust.

Barry Walsh

Blackrock

Cork