Karm Farrugia (July 19) stated that the European Central Bank is "obsessed" with inflation fears, further describing as "madness" its decision to raise interest rates in the present-day European and global recessionary scenario.

The real madness is the concept of the euro itself and a one size fits all interest rate.

Each and every country in the eurozone has differing economies and circumstances; some countries may need interest rates to rise while others may need a cut.

History has shown that every time interest rates or currencies were tied, they failed.

These include the gold standard and the snake - the most spectacular failure was the exchange rate mechanism, which Britain was forced, in the end, to crash out from.

This was not before great damage was done to the British economy, people lost jobs, businesses and homes. The whole sad affair created great misery.

We all know the old saying about refusing to learn from history's mistakes. Mark my words, the euro will fail and the fall-out will not be pleasant. Malta was very unwise to sacrifice its lira.

Mr Farrugia said he would like to find out what went on at the ECB meeting. Sadly, to find out what happens at any of the ECBs meetings, you will have to wait for 15 years for the minutes of their meetings, unlike the Bank of England which releases its minutes within a month.

The real questions is: Why does the ECB need to keep its minutes secret for that length of time?