Dr. Donal Donovan:

The debate on this issue has raged, is raging and will continue to rage.

In the context of the analysis and the conclusions - which are difficult to summarise in one sentence and which are contained in our book - I would continue to hold that view. When one considers all of the alternatives, namely, waiting, doing nothing, letting Anglo fail or using large-scale ELA, I do not have an axe to grind here, but my honest view is that I have yet to see a strong set of alternative proposals which would have been likely - this is a matter of judgment - to have led to a better outcome at the time, particularly in light of the state of knowledge and the costs associated with bank failures, than the guarantee. Of course, the guarantee is terrible and nobody is suggesting otherwise. We all know the costs associated with it.