Professor Patrick Honohan:

This is a separate issue. One should consider the Merrill Lynch report because its authors had laid it out. It was not bad and while Merrill Lynch was criticised afterwards, for a few days work it was not bad in terms of giving the outlines. Merrill Lynch stated that one should nationalise and then start guaranteeing. However, they thought one could get away with just guaranteeing Anglo and Nationwide and one would not have to guarantee the whole system. An extensive guarantee would have been necessary and I have not deviated from that. The danger is with terms such as "let go", "fail", "guarantee" or "nationalise". They are all different aspects of the same thing and the way things pan out subsequently depends on exactly which step one takes at which time and how much leeway it gives one.