14  For instance the choice between relying mainly on stock markets or on universal banks for the financing of firms. BIS central bankers’ speeches  9  time of falling aggregate income still means a loss of purchasing power for those at the bottom of the income distribution who can least afford it.
And these inequality data are probably not as reliable as some of the other more familiar macroeconomic data. But on this evidence the Irish record here seems better than in some of the adjusting countries in Europe. Here is an area where Ireland is not at an extreme: there is scope for policy to have a lasting impact.