Sir, – Kathy Sheridan labels the past decade as the "poxy" decade (Opinion, December 18th).
I think she is getting her decades mixed up.
It was the previous decade, that started well but ended with a spectacularly bankrupt country, that was the poxy decade.
A record government deficit, massive unemployment and emigration and a collapsed property market was the result of that decade.
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During that decade a small number of the country’s most powerful citizens, in charge of its government and financial institutions, had made the decisions which bankrupted the country and demonstrated capitalism’s most deadly faults.
The most recent decade has had its faults and failings in this country but government expenditure has been balanced and unemployment is down from 15 per cent to 5 per cent or so.
Government debt and problems in the supply of housing, health etc are still problems. But these problems are made worse as a result of the collapse at the end of the previous decade.
If we look at Greece which went bankrupt at about the same time our problems could be much worse.
Our capitalist system has been victim of human failings in the first decade of this century. They are still not solved and Brexit in the neighbouring country and important market is not going to help in the next decade. – Yours, etc,
A LEAVY,
Sutton,
Dublin 13.