Readers' Letters Of The Day

From The Evening Standard (I can't find this online):

My respects to Winnie Langley's family, but I dispute her title as Britain's oldest smoker. My grandmother, Esther Zietman, is coming up to 103 in December and has smoked since she was 13. At 99, she asked her doctor about giving up and he advised against it, saying that to do so would kill her.

Clive Zietman

A potted history of the next ten years from the FT:

... for so long people have sneered at the Japanese for their inability to steer their economy to recovery. Perhaps because they have sneered so much, it is no longer possible to admit that after a huge housing bubble bursts, there is nothing to do except suffer many years of economic indignity.

The fixation with Japan was not helpful during Mr Greenspan’s watch, nor I fear will it be of much use this time. The Japanese may be different, but they were not stupid.

Takashi Ito, Tokyo, Japan

And, the slightly longer summary of how we got here from The Metro:

Aran tells us we need to reform the international finance system to fund the vision of risk-taking entrepreneurs, but how many of those making millions in bankers' bonuses are doing just that?

Much of the 'wealth' supposedly created by the financial system in recent years has been mortgage debt. The more people borrowed because they were scared of being left off the property ladder, the more house prices rose and the more money (but really debt) was used to pay for it.

There is no real entrepreneurial wealth creation in this vicious circle. It has brought the country to its knees, not just because of the misery of those forced out of decent housing by high prices, but also the stress caused by borrowing too much and the resultant economic crash as the boom turned to bust. The only people who profit are those who are so wealthy they don't need a mortgage, or those who oil the wheels of the system and take their cut.

Matthew Huntbach, via e-mail.