Previous Nationalist governments have been criticised for many things, fairly and unfairly. But over a quarter of a century, very little of that criticism has been directed at its handling of the economy. Can you imagine any government anywhere which, notwithstanding whether the global economy is going through boom or bust, can boast a steady growth and more and better quality jobs?

The dangers of growing complacent

That, unfortunately, was not the question the electorate asked itself last March. After such a long stretch in which it had never had it so good, it grew complacent. Good times had become too much the natural order of things, an inevitable state of affairs no matter which party was in office. The economy is doing well, Joseph Muscat admitted, but despite the government not thanks to it.

I need not dwell on the transformation of the economy by the Fenech Adami administration nor do I need to linger on the point of how years of successive Nationalist governments, particularly the last nine years, brought new investment to Malta and generated new jobs thanks to the development of optimal conditions from an educated workforce to smart incentives. I will, however, point out the backdrop to the two transformations. In the first case, it was an inherited socialist economy with endemic unemployment and feeble private initiative; in the second, it was a deep and prolonged global economic crisis, the likes of which we had not seen in peacetime for more than 80 years.

I cannot, however, hide my sense of unease, at the laissez-faire attitude now prevalent regarding economic matters.

What is Labour’s big idea for the Maltese economy?

The pre-budget document, the first issued by this government, included an analysis of the past decade, noting that competitiveness had been maintained, the economy had stayed resilient and new jobs had been created. Thank you so much for that belated ode to the Nationalist government’s performance, but to what are we to look forward?

There is nothing new by way of the general picture. The Government will go all the way with the tax cuts – promised and planned by its predecessor. There is also talk of fiscal discipline, hardly the government’s only concern, given that the EU and the IMF both have good reason to emphasise restraint. Specific proposals? A mention of the creation of more child-care facilities. All well and good but if there are no new jobs for parents to take up, that will not matter much.

Slowly sliding down?

The dearth of ideas and initiatives, unfortunately, is not the whole story. The Finance Minister also expressed his concern on TV at the impact the number of new Ministry posts could have on the country’s finances. He said he hoped he would be able to trim them down in the future. Most of us had hoped that the huge cabinet, the increase in salary of political appointees to Ministerial secretariats and the creation of frivolous posts for services rendered would be an issue of only political concern. By the Minister’s own admission, it seems that this is not the case. Slowly but surely, these salaries are digging into the country’s coffers without giving much in return.

Meanwhile, there are signs that should be of concern: nothing more than slippages for the time being, but a sure sign that the government should act more vigorously to defend the achievements of recent years. Imports and exports have both fallen and unemployment has made some modest gains. Shopkeepers have reported less consumer spending, often a sign of concern for what is to come. Let us not forget that Malta now faces the EU’s excessive deficit procedure and yet we are still to see what corrective action will be taken.

Economies national and global

There are some modest signs that the global economy is emerging from this long crisis. There are some green shoots which, while needing much more care to grow into something more significant, should dispel some of the gloom that had become part and parcel of all economic commentary. The right national policies had protected us from all that. Sadly, it made us take our successes for granted.

It was remarkable that our country managed to weather the storm. Are we headed for the equally remarkable state of affairs where we flounder while the weather around us grows calm?