From Mr Robert McGee and Prof Yeomin Yoon.

Sir, Your editorial “Why free markets must be defended” (December 27) aptly pointed out that “governments are now being asked to intervene everywhere from the Detroit car industry to the Italian Parmesan business” and that “they should resist, because there is no reason to believe that in such sectors the basic market mechanism has failed”. But its conclusion as well as its recommendation – that “some intervention ... is inevitable yet it must be minimised” – sounded tentative and lukewarm, if not defeatist. We feel that the FT should have been more decisive and forceful in defending free markets by emphasising the inherent unethical nature of corporate bail-outs.