IT'S tempting at a time of crisis to look for a saviour or for quick-fix solutions.
In the past few days, we have seen fascinating interventions by two of the country's highest-profile economic commentators, George Lee and David McWilliams.

As everybody who didn't spend last week on the moon will be aware, Lee emerged as Fine Gael's candidate for the Dublin South by-election. And, in a far less publicised development, McWilliams suggested that Ireland should leave the euro and reinstitute our own currency.

The euphoric reaction to Lee's candidature has been astonishing. It's hard to recall a first-time candidate who has engendered such instant enthusiasm and excitement among the electorate.

There is no question Lee is a major coup for Enda Kenny and Fine Gael. He was a brilliant economics editor at RTÉ. He will almost certainly win the seat in the by-election and will provide a much-needed additional heavyweight presence on the Fine Gael front bench. It's also good for Irish politics that candidates of his calibre are willing to put themselves forward for election.

But the man does not walk on water. He has been expert at diagnosing the problems within the Irish economy and explaining them in an understandable manner to the public. However – and this is not meant as a criticism of Lee – there is a world of a difference between diagnosing a crisis and solving it.

Perhaps it was understandable given the excitement of the day, but Lee himself did little to deflate that sense of expectation surrounding his candidature with his bullish I'm here to help "put things right" comments at Tuesday's press conference.

Wise old heads from all parties around Leinster House smiled an almost-weary "yeah, we thought that way once" smile.

Lee is well within his rights to brand the government's management of the boom as "catastrophic", but if he were made finance minister in the morning, it is doubtful he would be doing anything markedly different to Brian Lenihan.

He would hardly follow the advice of Ireland's other main celebrity economist David McWilliams.

McWilliams in Wednesday's Irish Independent argued that "ditching the euro could be just the boost our economy needs".

Indeed it could, if we want to boost the Irish economy's chances of disappearing down the plug hole, that is.

Like Lee, McWilliams is a very bright and talented individual. He is also a very personable character and had the guts to stick his head above the parapet and question the over-dependence on the construction bubble long before it was fashionable to do so.

But since the economic crisis broke, his arguments about the need for rethinking traditional economic and budgetary orthodoxies have been much less convincing.

On the face of it, his argument about dumping the euro has a seductive appeal. We leave the euro, reinstitute our own currency and "allow it to plummet to reflect the real competitive position of our ruined, feeble economy and start again". This would make our exports considerably cheaper, giving a boost to the economy.

To be fair, McWilliams does not deny that there would be potential negatives about his radical course of action, but he argues they would be outweighed by the benefits, particularly – he claims – rapidly reduced unemployment.

But leaving aside the logistical nightmare of re-introducing the punt, there is a very strong argument that leaving the euro would trigger a run on the banks. If deposit holders knew that on a certain date the punt would replace the euro in Ireland and the new currency would in all likelihood fall strongly in value against the euro, the logical and obvious thing for them to do would be to transfer their money to a European bank account and then convert it back to punts at a future date after the currency had been devalued, getting considerably more bang (or punts) for their euro than if they simply left their money in an Irish bank account. It would also mean that the state would either have to pay back more for the money it has borrowed or we would effectively default on a percentage of our debt. Imagine our banks trying to borrow money in such a scenario.

Nor would we be able to depend on the collective might of the European Central Bank to act as a lender of last resort to bail us out in a worst-case scenario. (The government can't come out and say it, but the ECB isn't going to let a euro member country go bankrupt. There is a reason why Iceland is now looking at EU membership.)

And the impact that leaving the euro would have on our relations with our EU partners and our ability to attract foreign direct investment doesn't even bear thinking about.

Leaving the euro would send out a clear signal to the world that Ireland was an isolated, economic basket case that welched on its debt and its international treaties. Quite a calling card.

Now is the time for cool and calm heads and strong nerves. George Lee may well turn out to be a very fine politician but he is not the economic messiah. If the last nine months should have taught us anything, it is that he or she doesn't exist. Nor do any simple, painless solutions exist to the huge challenges facing us as a country.

scoleman@tribune.ie