OK. Let me see whether I have this right. We must all hope against hope that hordes of shoppers flood the stores and buy heaps of stuff they do not need and did not know they wanted with money they do not have so that some of the millions of men and women who cannot find work will be hired for poverty wages to sell it to them and thereby perhaps be able to feed themselves and their children. And this system is what makes this the greatest country in the history of the world.
Hmmm.
Today in the Czech newspaper I read, it was announced that the Czech economy is in the best condition it has been in for eight years. The head of the National Bank proudly proclaimed that the macroeconomy is balanced and that there is little debt.
ReplyDeleteTwo days ago the head of the local doctors' organization pointed out that one out of five new doctors find jobs out of the country and that the doctors' salaries in the Czech Republic are about a fifth of those in Germany. There is a shortage of doctors and nurses. Nurses also go abroad. I also happen to know that doctors and nurses long very long hours. (I teach at the Nursing School.)
Wages in general are far behind the more prosperous countries.
I guess I just don't believe the head of the National Bank.
And, to make things worse, there is an ongoing effort to frighten people about the danger of terrorism, connected with talk of the need for more spending on what they call "defense". Which means, in my humble opinion, that the true economic outlook for the average citizen is very poor indeed. More money for bombs, guns, and electronic spying--less for hospitals and schools.