There was a stick but there was carrot too. Among the ways in which the Communist authorities in Poland tried to keep writers and creative types in line was by introducing in 1978 a tax free allowance of 144,000 zł per annum for them. This at a time when the average monthly wage was 4 to 6 thousand.

Of course, one feels honour bound to mention that our own Charles Haughey exempted Irish creative artists from income tax in 1969.