The argument that emerged between the society for hunters and trappers and other organizations regarding the referendum law merits follow-up. I count myself among the big sceptics regarding the use of referenda in a parliamentary democracy, believing that they can easily become a manipulative tool.

I fail to see how a referendum can be considered a fair one if there is no guarantee that opposing sides involved in a question do have equivalent resources to convey their message. And there remains the fear that by having resort to a referendum, a government could seek to undermine parliamentary democracy – as happened with Hitler in Germany, where up to now, referenda are disallowed by the constitution.

If I got the main point of the recent controversy, hunters and trappers are concerned that further referenda could be called on a matter that has already been decided by referendum. If so, their concern is a legitimate one. For otherwise, social forces which are endowed with huge resources could continue to bring their claims forward till they finally clinch their demand as whoever disagrees with them would, in the meantime, have ended up financially drained.

***

EUROPEAN BUDGET

I would be surprised if a quick solution is found to the blockage over the European budget. The process that is going on reminds me of an Italian fable. A peasant continues to load new burdens on his ass while cutting down on the fodder he gives him.  He’s quite pleased with himself for while saving money he’s getting much more work done, that is, till the ass collapses and dies.

The arguments advanced by the countries which are adamant they want no increases in the European budget are intriguing. It seems like they are quite prepared to slash expenditures in sectors which traditionally the EU would seek to sustain. But then regions within the same countries, mostly from Scandinavia, are pushing claims that go in the opposite direction to what their governments are championing.

With cuts in expenditures, these regions too will lose out.

***

RENTALS

Is the real estate market losing steam? When listening to what some people are saying, that’s the conclusion one comes to. But one cannot really decide on the basis of subjective and impressionistic information.

On the other hand, the most recently available data does not actually lead to clear conclusions. For instance, indicators published this week about the ongoing turnover in the real estate market can be seen as positive when compared to a year back, or negative when taking into account the usual seasonal adjustments. And the indicators, we are told, reflect short term conditions. It is hardly clear whether such indicators by themselves stand to give a correct picture of the state of the real estate market.

True, there has been the expectation that the market would slow down at some stage, given how fast it has grown. Changes it underwent were probably structural in nature. So, I doubt if the models used up to now to track the evolution of the Maltese economy will be able to predict well enough how the sector could contract and what the consequent effects would be.