A friend told me: We might be getting it wrong when we talk about the Maltese economy as if it were just one entity. Actually it is not: there exists a range of systems which are independent from each other, and which are creating wealth or bringing funds into the island, sometimes in ways that official statistics cannot capture. The importance that financial services have assumed during the last quarter of a century has reinforced this development.
So he made his list: Apart from manufacturing, construction, “official” tourism and the retail sector, we have the economies that are based on VAT evasion; funds coming from Libya; funds accrued from underground tourism that bypasses registered accomodation centres; drug and laundered money; and we have too a barter economy.
In his view, it is the existence of these parallel economies which sometimes leads to incoherences between different sections of published economic data. And perhaps they also account for the fact that certain economic trends in Malta, such as the inflation rate, frequently are out of synch with those of other EU member countries.
***
A divided commission?
As presented by President Jean Claude Juncker to the European Parliament, the White Paper about the future of Europe issued by the European Commission has been roundly criticised. The Commission explained that in the Paper it wished to lay out for discussion, five different future scenarios so that then, the European Union could decide which one it would prefer to reach for.
The criticism was that the Commission had failed to show a sense of leadership in its presentation, for it should have proceeded with its analysis to the very end and come up with concrete proposals. To be sure, Juncker pre-empted this by saying that had the Commission done so, it would have been criticised for having once again sought to impose from Brussels its own solutions on the Union.
However, possibly the major reason why the White Paper took the shape it did was because the members of the Commission are themselves divided about what the best option is. It is not clear that what might have been Juncker’s own personal preference, would have had the majority backing of Commission members.
***
Mahfouz
I had not known that as part of his wideranging literary output, Naguib Mahfouz who is perhaps Egypt’s greatest novelist, also wrote four novels situated in Pharaonic Egypt. He published three at the start of his career, the fourth one towards the end.
I’ve read the first one, Kufu’s Wisdom. About a baby boy just born, a prophecy is delivered that he would sit on Pharaoh’s throne. So the King, Kufu, sets out to kill him. He thinks he’s succeeded in this but hasn’t.
So one follows how the prophecy came to pass, as the baby boy becomes an adult and a top military commander. Eventually, it is Kufu himself who decides to make him his heir.
Without being a masterpiece, the novel is written in a crisp and clear style, and remains interesting up to the end. Meanwhile, it provides a demonstration of Mahfouz’s abilities as they were maturing.