The long-term question for RBS is how far its empire will be pared back.
But it also raises long-term questions for both parties.
Obviously, that's a very long-term question, so we're not waiting around for the answers," said Susan Ferenc, senior scientific adviser to the Grocery Manufacturers of America, another trade group.
The word does not, though, help us all that much with the large, long-term question raised by the most torrid period for the coalition since its inception.
Blaming deregulation for the current crisis, however, leaves the more important long-term questions unanswered.
Long-term questions can be shelved.
But the long-term questions still remain.
Yet long-term questions endure.
Yes, serious long-term questions persist.
For the short term, this deal is harmonic, but in the long term, those questions will need to be answered.
While an extraordinarily large cohort of the population is moving into the latter phases of life, the resources to fund both acute and long term care for that cohort are in question.
