Whatever, but please pull out the aching tooth fast!

Sir Martin Wolf is absolutely right when he indicates that the window of opportunity for the USA to be able to sort out all that it needs in order to reassume economic growth of a hopefully more sustainable kind, before they hit the roof of unacceptably high levels of debt, is short, “Why Obama’s plan is still inadequate and incomplete” January 14. I would hold it to be very short.

It reminds me of a letter that I wrote to the Editor and that you published in August 2006 on “The long term benefits of a hard landing” and where I argued “that the gradualism of it all could create the most accumulated pain.”

The letter said “Why not try to go for a big immediate adjustment and get it over with? …. This is what the circle of life is all about and all the recent dabbling in topics such as debt sustainability just ignores the value of pruning or even, when urgently needed, of a timely amputation… Yes, a collapse would ensue and we have to help the sufferer, but the morning after perhaps we could all breathe more easily and perhaps all those who, in the current housing boom could not afford to jump on the bandwagon, would then be able to do so, and take us on a new ride, towards a new housing boom, in a couple of decades.”