Former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami and his then Finance Minister John Dalli were the first Maltese people who realised just how upside down our world was going to be turned.

We are not talking politics here, but who can forget Dr Fenech Adami during his last election campaign, warning us of the change which would eventually sweep around the world. He used the words globalisation and competitiveness. Who can forget John Dalli’s budget address, when he told us that the time was approaching where we would have to work our fingers to the bone (naqtghu bi snienna) – a literal translation is that we must start cutting with our teeth.

It seems strange to think that in 2003, while these two old warhorses showed us the way into Europe, they had forseen the threats which have emerged. Make no mistake – Europe or no Europe, Switzerland in the Med or not, we would still have found ourselves in the situation we are in today.

But again, it is remarkable to note that while most Maltese looked at Europe as mana from heaven – thee two wily foxes knew all along what lay in store. They tried to warn us that not all would be plain sailing and that we would have to fight for survival in the modern day cut-throat market economy.

Many citizens of Malta didn’t have the foggiest idea what globalisation meant and they did not take John Dalli’s warnings seriously. But you can ask any Maltese person what threats our country and our economy are facing today, and they will echo the words of EFA and Dalli.

We have seen what happened in Greece. Cooked books hid the extent of their burgeoning deficit at 12.7 per cent and the people thought all was hunky-dory. They were led to believe that Greece was a country that was faring extremely well in the EU and the eurozone. It is no wonder that the country is livid. People have been living beyond their means for years. This sudden crash has not been sudden at all. It is the result of living off credit for year after year. It is the result of having a very unproductive workforce with a huge social safety net that is used and abused without scruples.

But this is not only Greece’s problem. It is a general malaise that has taken over the free-market over the last decade or so. No one has been spared – powerhouses such as Japan, the USA, the UK, Germany and emerging tigers such as India and Brazil. Malta has not been spared and we were warned of it well in advance. About six years in advance, in actual fact. As we have said, it all boils down to productivity (read the report on the business breakfast which starts on the front page). We can no longer live in the false reality where we have such a shortfall between productivity and wages. Sure, we can live the high life for a couple of years and push property prices ever higher, and afford holidays in the sun (or snow), but it all comes back to slap you in the face. As the world has ultimately found out.

We have come to a crossroads. It is either time for the humans to take a break – to enjoy things as they are and not seek more ‘progress’ – or it is time for us to notch up another gear.