+-- lazy function; this is just the same as id, but its unfolding
+-- and strictness are over-ridden by the definition in MkId.lhs
+-- That way, it does not get inlined, and the strictness analyser
+-- sees it as lazy. Then the worker/wrapper phase inlines it.
+-- Result: happiness
+lazy :: a -> a
+lazy x = x
+
+-- Assertion function. This simply ignores its boolean argument.
+-- The compiler may rewrite it to (assertError line)
+-- SLPJ: in 5.04 etc 'assert' is in GHC.Prim,
+-- but from Template Haskell onwards it's simply
+-- defined here in Base.lhs
+assert :: Bool -> a -> a
+assert pred r = r
+