We should be drawing together rather than seeking out political differences

Alan Hinnrichs (“Greed still good”, Letters, 28 March) suggests that as in the past “the people paying for it will get little or nothing” in the current crisis.

He does not seem to realise that if the banks had not been saved in 2008 everyone would have lost their savings, not just those who he refers to as “fat cats”.

Aswestandatthemomentin this time of great danger to our health and wealth in the UK, the money is not going to billionaires but directly into the pockets of wage-earners and the self-employed.

He suggests we are turning to Socialism, but current policies look more like they have been derived from the helicopter money approach suggested by Milton Friedman.

As we have known through two world wars, the Depression and the financial crisis, only the Government and the central bank have the necessary fiscal and monetary tools to ensure the economy can continue to function during periods of great dislocation.

It is not a failure of capitalism if it adopts abnormal policies for difficult times, and unlike Communism, which failed because it stuck to its dogma, is an example of its inherent adaptability to the situation that it faces.

It is sad that at a time like this he also throws around unsubstantiated accusations about “professional liars” and makes statements that the financial aristocracy want to “kill off the elderly”.

There is enough to worry about in the real world, and we should be drawing together to overcome this threat rather than seeking out political differences.

ALAN BLACK Camus Avenue, Edinburgh

Modern 24-hour newscasting has resulted in an endless repetition of coronavirus deaths, causing widespread alarm.

Wild speculation of over half a million deaths from the usual suspects at Imperial College led to the closure of schools, the banning of all social events and citizens ordered to stay at home, with the police given inordinate powers of enforcement.

A note of sanity was introduced by the government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, when he appeared before the Health Select Committee.

He likened it to those killed by flu, citing a figure of 8,000 deaths but noting that a large number of these would have happened anyway.

And it’s also important to consider the collateral damage to society and the economy. There are psychological problems linked to self-isolation; heart complaints from lack of activity; the impact on health from reduced living standards and unemployment.

Trashing the economy costs lives and the benefit of a longterm lockdown in reducing premature deaths will be far outweighed by the cost in terms of lost life expectancy from a prolonged economic dip.

Suppressing the virus won’t make it go away and prospects of an imminent vaccine are poor, so the government must weigh up the benefits and costs. The tipping-point is a 6 per cent decline in the size of the economy (cf. 2008 financial crash) which led to a loss of three months of life in the population stemming from declining living standards to markedly poorer health care.

JOHN CAMERON Howard Place, St Andrews