One can consider the way by which people come to terms with the budget as a process spread over three movements.

In a first wave, the budget is published and subjected to the open scrutiny of the Opposition, of  “experts” and of representatives of civil society organizations that come in all shapes and sizes. For many people, the question at this stage is how their wages, taxes and social benefits are going to be directly affected.

The second wave approaches in the wake of the first one. The political parties strive mightily to get their message on the budget across. It is a stage of proceedings that will go on till just after the Leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister have delivered their speeches in Parliament. Each sides tries to embed its point of view in the popular mind more firmly than its competitor: which happens for instance when an Opposition manages to reverse the positive perceptions that a government would be promoting.

The third wave covers the time when the first budgetary measures coming into force are being implemented. In a capillary way, these reinforce a final belief about the impact of the budget that will persist in public opinion.    

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Obesity

EASO is a study group of European professionals specialising in the treatment of obesity. I had made a parliamentary question on the subject and was invited to the round table they organised in Brussels to review their experiences.

It was clear that as doctors and social welfare consultants coming from a number of European countries, the people involved had a far reaching clinical experience. For as long as I was with them, the points in discussion dealt with the credibility that consultants giving advice about how to reduce weight, need to maintain with their clients.

My interest in the issue of obesity arose when I learnt that Malta had been found to have proportionately to its population, one of the highest rates of obesity among European countries – as well as by the fact that this is a condition that prevails most among low income earners. They then are among the people worst affected by diseases like diabetes which feed on obesity. In anti-poverty policies, obesity needs to be given major attention.

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NYRB

It has an austere format, which hardly resembles the presentation of the glossy magazines that newspapers now habitually produce. I had known about the “New York Review of Books” since quite a while but had never got round to actually reading it. The price tag is not cheap. However, this year’s “fall books” issue packs in a little less than a hundred pages, a wide variety of subjects ranging from cultural history and politics, to economics and literature, as well as the adverts of the best US publishers featuring the new books they are launching.

The impression one gets is that of a wideranging movement of debate and opinion regarding issues that have a wide significance. Some are rarely mentioned in Europe; others contest views that are considered axiomatic on the European side of the Atlantic.

That makes for a lot of reading material. Perhaps after all, the NYRB is not so costly.

I doubt whether the magazine can be found in Malta. If yes, it would make sense to provide the NYRB with a small niche in this year’s Book Fair.