He means the America of Ronald Reagan and George Bush, with its private affluence and public squalor.

In failing to recognise this challenge, we risk fulfilling John Kenneth Galbraith's warning of "private opulence and public squalor".

One of the first guests was the renowned economist John Kenneth Galbraith, best known for his critique of private affluence amid public squalor.

Galbraith's warnings of "private wealth and public squalor" in the affluent society are all too apposite to the current Irish socio-economic picture.

Capital spending was poleaxed, storing up a public squalor deficit for the future that will need to be repaid as surely as the fiscal deficit.