Letter: High interest rates, as an economic tool, cost the poor the most

BRITAIN exports pounds 10.70 per head of the total workforce, Japan pounds 7 and the US pounds 5.30, so uncompetitive exchange rates are ruinous to this country. Bankers are paid to look after the value of money, ensuring that their loans are not repaid in devalued currency. While they make sympathetic noises about exporters and the skilled jobs lost, these are secondary considerations against their main remit. "Special deposit" schemes, whereby banks have to make deposits to the central bank, are preferable to high interest rates in curbing inflation and have less effect upon exports and jobs. Just as war is too important to leave to the generals, money is too important to leave to the bankers.

WR Haines