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Cyprus: a lesson for life
There is nothing more undignified than the sight of a bankrupt person begging for assistance. The contrasts between the cosy and sometimes sumptuous living before the event and the state of helplessness and destitution soon after are stark indeed. While generous persons may come forward to offer their help, they know in their heart of…
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THE ECONOMY, PUBLIC FINANCE AND THE ELECTIONS
One tends to recall that the economy and elections are very much related. The famous statement “the economy stupid” was coined with this in mind. Leaders of contesting political parties can only ignore the economy at their own peril argues Prof Edward Scicluna. Let’s unearth why… Incumbent governments know how important it is to face…
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Our Plan for Economic Growth
There is no doubt that, since the Second World War, it has been the desire of every parent that his or her children should enjoy a better life than he or she had. Back before the early industrial revolution, in an agrarian society, dire poverty was accepted as a way of life. The poor, or…
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Our surreal situation
I reckon that both the divorce issue and the forthcoming election will be noted in our future history books as the two events that shook Maltese society out of its slumber. For the past few decades, Maltese society has accepted the dictum “do not fix if it ain’t broken” and preferred instead living a life…
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Government’s debt legacy
The debt issue is not just a Labour issue, it is a national issue. In actual fact I find it more of a concern among the business community which knows only too well its repercussions. Business persons know that debt burdens once incurred can only be transferred, as say from one generation to another, or…
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The politics of stooping to conquer
“If until then, Scicluna hadn’t caught my attention, he certainly did on that occasion.” – Michela Spiteri I was in Brussels last December, around the time Edward Scicluna was being persecuted by that insufferable anti-abortion NGO, Gift of Life, who have that very rare ability to make me think, say and do things I wouldn’t…
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Stagflation is not a Virus
According to Eurostat, at 4.2 per cent, Malta has reached the highest inflation rate in the eurozone and the second highest in the whole European Union. In fact, it is almost double the average in both cases. In economics, inflation can be considered as a Hydra, a multi-headed beast which once it inserts itself is…
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Recall Mintoffianomics
Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher are remembered for their own brand of economics, Thatcherism and Reaganomics. But what about Dom Mintoff’s own particular economic creed and style which too had indelibly left their mark on his government’s administration? Although not an economist by profession, and never taking over the Ministry of Finance, nobody doubted that…
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Financial services in the European institutions
It is nearly three years since I was elected to serve as one of Malta’s MEPs and was appointed as a Vice-Chairman of the Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs committee. As we are too well aware, the last few years have been dominated by a crisis of the financial sector, which caused a worldwide recession,…
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The MEP’s Diary: Lies, damn lies and statistics
What do our Members of European Parliament (MEPs) go through during their weekly ordeal in Brussels and Strasbourg? di-ve.com’s “The MEP’s dairy” features one MEP’s agenda every Monday. Labour MEP Prof. Edward Scicluna (Socialists and Democrats) goes through his diary entry for last week. The last couple of weeks have been dominated by the final…