This is how some people put it: in their view, a step back towards antiquated behaviour is being taken by all those who, as individuals, associations or popular movements, speechify and mobilize to “defend” the interests of the nation, as patriots. The latter expression, quite an old one, has come back in fashion, though with a meaning that has devalued and darkened its real meaning. It seems like it has been allowed to become the property of the extreme right.

We’re told that nationalism in Europe has given rise to the worst atrocities of Nazism and diverse forms of fascism. That’s true. But it’s also true that it was the “enlightened” nationalism of leaders like Churchill andde Gaulle which stood out against Nazism. The concept of one’s native land, of the nation in Europe, has deep roots that define identity and humanist values. The mistake would be to put it all aside.

Then we’re also told how with globalisation, nationalism only serves to undermine much needed flexibility. Instead we should promote continental unity among peoples. The problem is that not enough has been done on a national level and through cooperation between nationalentitites to ensure that globalisation is harnessed and its consequences brought under rational controls.

So, how can it be said that on this basis, national initiatives are bound to fail?

***

Economic survey

I’ll say it again this year. The Economic Survey published with the budget is supposed to provide a picture detailing how the Maltese economy is developing. It has a formulaic presentation, based on lines laid out in the sixties and seventies decades of the previous century. In those days, manufacturing and tourism were taking off.

Over the years, the Survey continued to be formatted according to the same model. On manufacturing and agriculture you’ll find very many detailed tables, which is ok. However today, financial services and internet gaming are the top drivers of the economy, between them accounting for some 30 per cent of GDP, perhaps more. About them, the Survey has practically nothing to say... except by way of describing how regulators are overseeing the framework within which they are developing. This has little relevance to the way by which on the ground they are progressing in economic and financial terms.

Such a presentational anomaly can only serve to strengthen the ridiculous suspicion that we have reason to hide how the progress of the Maltese economy towards services has been taking shape.

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The euro

Understandably, for many people the question regarding how the euro zone should be run is a technical matter. It’s too complex, you see, so that only the few get interested in it.

As a matter of fact, is this an acceptable state of affairs?

I believe not. Given that the euro is our national currency, we need to know about the factors that are affecting its performance, about whether this is improving and where difficulties lie.  That would help us benefit at times when the going is good, or take steps to counter any approaching deterioration. If the euro suffers setbacks, quite likely the standards of living of many many families here would decline.

I tried to make these points last week during a social occasion at which a book about the euro was launched, the third in a series which discusses the topic from a Maltese perspective.  Really, developments in the eurozone is a subject that is of interest to the few, but it concerns many, not to say everybody.