Madam, - To assist forecasters, economists, analysts, business journalists, soothsayers, house vendors and purchasers in their job of trying to predict events in 2008, may I remind them of Donald Rumsfeld's words of advice:
"There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know". - Yours, etc,
EAMON McLOUGHLIN, Sion Road, Glenageary, Co Dublin.