The media and the chattering classes are focussed on the political and ancillary fallout of the Mallia report. No doubt this will be the case for some time yet. The national saga revolving around the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on public health and how this is affecting daily life in Malta and Gozo will remain a prominent issue.

There is however a danger in all this which I hope is not being overlooked. It is natural to concentrate on what we consider to be the most important challenges while trying to reduce their number to as few as possible.Yet we should not fail to pay attention to policy issues that could morph somehow and become difficult to control.

The economy could fall into this category. At present, it is losing out due to Covid-19. Still, it carries other problems which are structural and much deeper in scope and which should not be allowed to ferment.

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SERVICE CHARGE

Up to just some weeks ago, you could go to the local branch of your bank (it hardly matters which bank that would be since they all adopt the same policies), write out a check on your current account for say, €4,000 euros and get cash for it from the cashier. Effectively you would be withdrawing monies held in trust by your goodself with the bank, which would know how those monies had reached them.

Today, that is no longer possible. The bank tells you there’s a limit of €2,500 that you can withdraw by cheque. So you plug for the figure indicated and then the bank deducts €5 from the amount it refunds you... as a service charge.

Now I understand that banks are having problems to maintain their profitability, in the context of very low interest rates and ever tightening bank regulation. But it seems to me that they have ended up showing great disrespect to their depositors... which might hold explosive consequences for their future.  

Meanwhile the service and courtesy displayed towards clients by all bank employees, high and low, remain faultless.                     

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HEARST

As shown by a well endorsed biography of his I just finished reading, the life of William Randolph Hearst can be seen as a fascinating story. For long years, he featured as a dominant force in US communications media. With the millions he inherited from his father and mother, he set up a network of newspapers in the main US cities for which he then stacked up a huge circulation. On its basis, Hearst created an impressive machine by which to significantly influence public opinion.

He used it with no scruples at all. He invented practically out of nothing the pretexts that led to war between the US and Spain over Cuba. Many times, he did all he could to end up as the guy who would decide how US presidential elections turned out. It is true that he did not always succeed in these efforts, but nobody denies that he was an important factor in how final outcomes shaped up.

In his days, the overriding ideological controversy related to the means of production: whether they should be state controlled or kept entirely in private hands; related to which the question as to how either option should be implemented. Perhaps the same controversy should have been extended even then, to also cover the means of communication.