Irish Examiner view: Our shopping choices were never so important

Positive localism would be a reassuring and wise declaration of solidarity during a difficult time for many businesses

Ann Doherty, chief executive Cork City Council; Lord Mayor, Cllr Joe Kavanagh and Lady Mayoress, Stephanie Kavanagh watch as Cork City Lights Up for Christmas and kickstarts the city’s seasonal celebrations. The Irish Examiner is urging you to support local retailers this Christmas. Picture:  Darragh Kane

Just as the long-or-short fashion around hemlines fluctuates across the decades, the debate around the size of government fluctuates too. 

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, a programme of public works and regulations enacted to counter the wild west culture that led to a Great Depression in 1929 was one highwater mark in that never-ending debate. That Roosevelt wore the criticisms of a newly-challenged corporate America as a badge of honour is an indication of how volatile and very difficult that debate was.