Up to not so long ago, the idea of wisdom and prudence (called għaqal in Maltese) used to mean that in the main, people would spend only money that they already had in hand while seeking to save as much as possible of it in order to have a safeguard for the future. It was a time when even if poverty was in decline, people were still very much afraid of becoming poor.  Then the social state began to provide free health services and introduced state pensions, which injected a sense of security. Meanwhile the improvement of living standards still needed to gather momentum.

When this did happen, ideas about what was wise and prudent changed radically. Borrowing in order to purchase a car or furniture became the done thing, even more so buying a house. Similarly to cover the consumption of products and services, like buying a dress or for travel.

The inducements for greater consumption just kept increasing. Now, it is no longer clear what stands for wisdom and prudence in the spending patterns of individuals and families.

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COMMISSIONS

The public administrative scenario has become crowded with a big number of commissions, agencies, corporations, state companies, authorities and I do not know what else. In certain cases, they bump into each other or stumble over each other as they carry out their respective tasks.

The regulations that provide a framework for them and by which they operate are not very relevant to today’s situation. The manner by which many decisions get taken are less than transparent and the possibilities for confusion, indeed for conflicts of interest, are ever present.

Much time has passed since the need for corporations that are distinct from the rest of the “traditional” administration was first experienced. Today’s circumstances are totally different from what was the case then. At least some review should be attempted of what contributed to the need for these distinct administrative entities and how they should be regulated and run in line with today’s circumstances.

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DEVELOPMENT PLAN

While we get loads of talk about the need for a change or an updating of our economic strategy, from the way by which issues are raised a confusion often develops about what exactly should be changed. In order for change efforts to be meaningful, if and when they do happen, they have to be coherent with each other. Everybody needs to be on the same page as they are being laid out – the private sector, the Government and its representatives, the Opposition with its members, and as we now label it, civil society.

Towards the end of the 1980’s, the Fenech Adami administration gave up the practice which had been followed up to then of publishing Development Plans. That provided another signal of how liberal principles of economic management had arrived here too. It was claimed that development plans were suitable for a centralised economy but for no other system.

However the Development Plans that ran from the 1960’s to the 1980’s were only indicative. In no way could they follow the Soviet model, since even in those days, the Maltese economy was characterised by an extreme openness.

Perhaps the time has arrived to bring them back in again as a managerial tool?