NTMA recession warning: Let’s not fear the probable

Even though it’s more than a decade since Bertie Ahern harrumphed his infamous advice — “the boom is getting boomier” — the consequences of the madness epitomised by that phrase, and the “soft landings” and “naysayers” slapdowns too, remain chilling, almost as chilling as the idea that a person in his position could so misjudge reality.

That memory must be especially sharp for any one of the hundreds of thousands of people still living with the legacy of that madness.