Like the rest of Europe, for multiple years Malta needed to focus on how to contain the consequences of the 2008 recession and its aftermath. Since we had prematurely joined the eurozone, the fear that these consequences could create huge disruption was more than palpable. The island’s economic governance concentrated without really getting it right, on implementing constraints on public expenditure. This went then against the economic interests of Malta seen as a stand alone unit, but was  enshrined as a priority since the island’s currency changed to the euro.

Today, the economic situation has vastly impoved, mostly because of  policies introduced post 2013.

We find ourselves in the middle of an unprecedented scenario of growth. The government is in a situation (but it could change overnight) by which its financial returns are covering quite well its commitments on recurrent and investment outlays – even though recurrent expenditures have accellerated.

In contrast to that of yesterday, today’s governance must ensure that growth remains under control and does not breed waste. 

*** 

Great leaders

Comments that I find curious, are frequently made in the sense about how not so long ago, we had “great” leaders in Europe with a “vision” about its future. Today’s leaders, we are told, lack the sparkle of a real life-giving vision as well as the ideas to thrust it forward. They are incapable of giving a direction towards which the continent should strive.

Names from the past get mentioned with glory. Some should be admired, others less so. Kohl, Mitterrand, Chirac, Schroeder, Thatcher, Blair and so on...

For then again one has to note: these leaders with a “vision” did indeed launch their projects and did indeed carry them out. But how far did they project their calculations in order to foresee the consequences of the future they were envisaging?

It hardly seems as if they gave enough attention to this matter.

So does it make sense that they now get bracketed as heroes while their successors, who have had to cope with the consequences of what resulted from their decisions, must be considered as less than inadequate?

On matters such as the enlargement of the EU undertaken in the 1990’s, and then the establishment of the eurozone, such a question is surely justified in view of the events that followed.

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Manwel Gellel

Last summer, I read Ġuże Cardona’s “forgotten” novel Manwel Gellel. As of now, it was for me one of this year’s best reading experiences. It had been a long time since I wanted to go through it but finding an extant copy of the book is difficult. It was only published in serial form by It-Torċa way back in 1962.

Most just do not know it exists. As a boy, I heard it being read on cable radio by Charles Arrigo and found it fascinating. Reading it again today, the salient question was: would it still have quite the same impact today?

To be sure, one can hardly claim that the novel is an outstanding masterpiece. After all, it was the first novel that Cardona, who was my Maltese language teacher at the Lyceum secondary school in Hamrun, wrote and published. But it contains elements that have full value.

The SKS publishing house will soon be issuing a new edition. I hope it will be given the attention it deserves by the reading public.