Make sure the banks don't pull another fast one

YESTERDAY I heard an advertisement on the radio encouraging people to buy National Savings Bonds.

Encouraging people to save is a good idea when the economy is growing fast, but it is a means of asking people to postpone spending and is the very last thing we need at present.

On the contrary, we need people to buy and to buy Irish as much as possible. For every euro taken out of the economy in the form of Government Saving Bonds, the government gets a temporary loan and the economy shrinks further than by one euro because of the absence of the knock-on effect of the circulation of money in stimulating growth.