4 ms·

Ouch this hits home. Its still the case to today: many Maltese just depend on the government to figure it out for them. As a result: 1. The government is the b

Ouch this hits home. Its still the case to today: many Maltese just depend on the government to figure it out for them. As a result: 1. The government is the biggest employer on the island. 2. There are mandatory cost of living allowance increases every year decided by the government. Its always too slow and slightly too low. For comparison, the last COLA increase had 5% of it shaved off within a few weeks because local milk prices rose as a result. 3. The government has been subsidising electricity since the start of the invasion of Ukraine to avoid rising bills (historically it was a political football). WTO, EC, and other institutions have repeatedly told the government to wind them down but its repeatedly ignored this because any government which does will likely collapse in a few months. Its a super frustrating cycle to see year after year and its not surprising to see that its been historically accurate too. Fwiw, I'm Maltese and in my early thirties.

maltesegirl 3y ago
I just want to address point 1. It's true that the government is a big employer, but most of those jobs have really low salaries and according few working hours. 99% of those people have a second or third job. I find it an interesting system. The government job is their safety net, and acts almost like a basic income, which allows people to be more entrepreneurial. It would be interesting to study the effect of such a system on economic growth. And I categorically disagree with you regarding your claim that the Maltese depend on the government to figure it out for them. The Maltese are in comparison to pretty much everyone in Europe, one of the most entrepreneurial and go-getter cultures who love to "do it themselves" and "figure it out". If you want to see governments babysitting their citizens, go visit pretty much any N.W.E country. What's true about the Maltese is that many have no qualms about bad mouthing their country in front of foreigners, which is also an almost unique trait compared to the rest of Europe. But I notice, it's mostly people who never left home who are the loudest bad mouthers. Let me just say one more thing. We have one of the most amazing healthcare systems in the whole world. I have lived in all the most modern countries and have in my more than a decade abroad never experienced anything better. I don't know why people don't talk about it more. Probably because it exposes health insurance for the scam industry that it is. For the curious: we have an NHS style system which is amazing by itself because healthcare is one of the things that Maltese people are well trained in and care deeply about, and it's supported by a fully private industry of healthcare providers, which, because they are competing with "free" have comparatively low pricing. Compared to the absolute nightmare that is healthcare in Germany for example, it's an amazing system. I pretty much end up flying home for any treatment because waiting lists are way shorter than anywhere else and the staff much more professional.
ashconnor 3y ago
Funny you say this. The Singaporean government owns huge chunks of the media, they run the pension system, almost all real estate is managed via the HDB, Temasek holdings owns large portions of Singapore's largest companies and makes up over 50% of their GDP. Does it have a laissez-faire economic system? To a degree. But it also has a level of state intervention that would make France blush.
- purrcat259 3y ago
  Recent governments in Malta have been moving in this direction so maybe there's a playbook :). The issue we face is that given how tiny and few we are (approx 500k Maltese, excluding what are referred to ad TCNs or third country nationals), is that its hard for the government to do anything without looking like someone favoured their cousin's wife's uncle's nephew.

maltesegirl 3y ago

I just want to address point 1. It's true that the government is a big employer, but most of those jobs have really low salaries and according few working hours. 99% of those people have a second or third job. I find it an interesting system. The government job is their safety net, and acts almost like a basic income, which allows people to be more entrepreneurial. It would be interesting to study the effect of such a system on economic growth. And I categorically disagree with you regarding your claim that the Maltese depend on the government to figure it out for them. The Maltese are in comparison to pretty much everyone in Europe, one of the most entrepreneurial and go-getter cultures who love to "do it themselves" and "figure it out". If you want to see governments babysitting their citizens, go visit pretty much any N.W.E country. What's true about the Maltese is that many have no qualms about bad mouthing their country in front of foreigners, which is also an almost unique trait compared to the rest of Europe. But I notice, it's mostly people who never left home who are the loudest bad mouthers. Let me just say one more thing. We have one of the most amazing healthcare systems in the whole world. I have lived in all the most modern countries and have in my more than a decade abroad never experienced anything better. I don't know why people don't talk about it more. Probably because it exposes health insurance for the scam industry that it is. For the curious: we have an NHS style system which is amazing by itself because healthcare is one of the things that Maltese people are well trained in and care deeply about, and it's supported by a fully private industry of healthcare providers, which, because they are competing with "free" have comparatively low pricing. Compared to the absolute nightmare that is healthcare in Germany for example, it's an amazing system. I pretty much end up flying home for any treatment because waiting lists are way shorter than anywhere else and the staff much more professional.

ashconnor 3y ago

Funny you say this. The Singaporean government owns huge chunks of the media, they run the pension system, almost all real estate is managed via the HDB, Temasek holdings owns large portions of Singapore's largest companies and makes up over 50% of their GDP. Does it have a laissez-faire economic system? To a degree. But it also has a level of state intervention that would make France blush.

purrcat259 3y ago
Recent governments in Malta have been moving in this direction so maybe there's a playbook :). The issue we face is that given how tiny and few we are (approx 500k Maltese, excluding what are referred to ad TCNs or third country nationals), is that its hard for the government to do anything without looking like someone favoured their cousin's wife's uncle's nephew.