Nationalise the banks? No, send for a receiver instead of a politician

IN different times, “nationalise the banks” would be written off as yet another childish far-left slogan. Now, though, David Begg, the president of the ICTU, is saying nationalisation is as good as inevitable within three months, claiming the recapitalisation of the Bank of Ireland and AIB will fail. A usually responsible trade unionist, he is neither far left nor childish, so his views deserve to be treated seriously.

The tide would appear to be running in his direction, too. With America — the Land of the Free — set to take large chunks of Citigroup and Bank of America into federal hands, who would bet what’s left of their savings on David Begg’s prediction being wrong?

At the same time, even those who dream of a workers’ republic should be wary. Where nationalisation of the banks has taken place before in developed societies, history records they have eventually been returned to the private sector. It did not presage some socialist nirvana where the common good — not profit – came first.