The signals are that in some areas, action is being taken against the impunity which some believed they could enjoy to do all that suits them, while the authorities pretend they have witnessed nothing at all, or apply laws and regulations elastically.

Nothing is more subversive than such a belief about how the authorities do decide the measures they need to take. It undermines people's faith in justice... or better, in the fairness by which the authorities should arrive at their decisions. For people will conclude that actually, one can do whatever one likes. If some have the power to ensure that their malpratices will be allowed or condoned, those who do not have an equivalent power will do their best to play dirty in order to achieve the same result. More likely than not, they will succeed in this for in a democracy, those who have state power prefer to remain friends with all parties.

Yet, the urgency to step up efforts meant to eliminate impunity is there. Not just in Malta but in other European democracies as well.  Actually, such efforts serve to highlight the difference that should exist between a democracy and authoritarian or dictatorial regimes.

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BUDGET

The challenges that this year's budget must clear are more complicated than those of other years, and not just because of the policy of subsidies which the government has pledged to retain. This is because while immediate uncertainties surround the European space (including these islands), the challenges that must also be considered are long term in nature.

Now it so happens that the tools and methods needed to face up to short term blockages are different to those needed to defuse the longer term issues that could arise. Trying to cope with both contingencies is a crucial aim but success in doing so turns out to be a delicate exercise that is frequently impossible to get done. For if what works in the here and now contradicts or undermines what is required for the long term, how could the options being chosen make sense?

The dilemma is testing and tormenting various finance ministers, including those in their ranks who deny that any such problem could exist.

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GIGANTISM

The sheer size of funds being allocated to investment and businesses in the field of artificial intelligence is simply collossal. All the time, reference is made to hundreds of billions and to trillions of dollars. Profits already being declared from certain AI projects are also enormous although it is not always clear that they are convertible into ready cash.

We get told that this is not the first time that the development of capitalism has happened on such a large scale. Proportionally to the overall size of economies in the past, the same happened in other epochs. Perhaps.

Even so, a feeling of discomfort continues to prevail regarding what has been happening. If this gigantic movement of capital fails to achieve the profit targets set for it, what could follow - an unprecedented world crisis? On the other hand, if it does succeed, could the world end up under the dominion of the few who are now at the forefront of this ongoing, gigantic AI development?