Il-pajjizi tal-Ażja li rnexxielhom ikabbru l-ekonomija tagħhom wara l-gwerra, inklużi il-Ġappun, Korea t-Isfel u Taiwan wasslu għax kellhom kontroll fuq l-importazjoni u żammew kappa fuq kemm l-investiment barrani seta’ jikkontrolla l-ekonomija. Iċ-Ċina hekk għadha!

Dawk il-pajhjiżi li fedħu s-suq tagħhom bla kontroll spiċċaw imdejnin iktar minn qabel… grazzi għall-pariri tal-IMF u l-World Bank.

Il-punt ma kienx li dawn l-affarijiet rohsu mad-dinja kollha, izda li dak iz-zmien hawn Malta kienu jiswew it-tripplu ta’ pajjizi ohra minhabba dazju, levies u ma nafx xhiex iktar. Eh iva, naf xhiex iktar… it-tixhim li ridt ixxahham… Ghax ma ninsewx li mil-Gappun (u nsejt fejn iktar) ma seta’ jidhol xejn minhabba xi embargo, imqar jekk parti minnu biss kienet mill-Gappun!

Very true, David. We usually dine out as a break from the daily routine. Since we’re too old for noisy bars, a nice pizza and a good Merlot on a cool terrace are unbeatable. Maybe Joseph still thinks that “biex inkunu bħal ħaddieħor” we have to have a steak, “Li ma tmurx tarana Zeza nieklu l-pizza x’waħda din”.

U it-televisions tal-kulur u l-video recorders li kienu jiddahlu bil-kuntrabandu u jinbieghaw sahansitra minn ghand tal-grocer? Bi prezzijiet m-ghola s-sema. Kulhadd jiftakar il-mijiet li kienu marru jirregistraw is set taghhom meta kienet inghatat l-amnesstija biex tigi ir-regolizzata is-sitwazjoni. Il-veru konna pajjiz tal-Mickey Mouse.

Illum tixtri 7 DVDs b’dawk il flus

Trid tirringrazzja lil Nixon li ħalla ‘l Kissinger jiftaħ il-bibien għaċ-Ċina. Kieku llum nini nini tixtri DVD b’Lm70.

Issa naraw kif se jitilgħu il-prezzijiet la darba ċ-Ċina bdiet iżżid il-pagi lill-ħaddiema, għalmenu sa kemm jiżdiedu l-fabbriki il-Vietnam, Cambodia u eventwalment l-Afrika.

Not very much. Reading recent stories of how management of large corporations and banks ended up taking increasingly riskier decisions in the hope of striking lucky returns to cancel a bad downturn, I doubt smaller businesses do much different…

I’m certainly not implying all businesses act the same, but I’m simply stating that extrapolating from a couple of choice examples to form the basis for the headline is not good, honest writing in my book.

Banks that close businesses because they’re in a bad patch wouldn’t get much new business. I doubt banks decide to stop serving a particular business simply on what’s in the books…

We ought to thank you for giving us the opportunity to participate in your blog.

The most important/healthy aspect of it is that anyone can comment and participate. Keep up with your excellent work, tough as it may be.

Biex tixtri ‘video player’ kont thallas Lm700, u tal-kuntrabandu. Illum tixtri 7 DVDs b’dawk il flus. Imma fiz-zmien il-Labour konna ahjar! Kellhom bzonn it-tfal tal-llum jafu min xiex ghadda l-pajjiz fiz-zmien il-Labour. Anke il-karrozzi kienu bil-kwota. U l-bazuzli bil-Mercedes u bil-BMWs.

The percentage of the population who bought/did not buy large TV’s is not a measurment in itself. Instead I would count on the total value of the TVs sold.

Selling two leather jackets X €100 each, making 30 o/o profit i.e. €60 g.p. = selling 4 synthetic jackets X €50 each, making 30 o/o profit. i.e. €60 g.p. as well.

Consequently selling, for eg. 5/600 pizza’s a night, yields the same profit as though selling 60 steaks a night.

Like the leather and synthetic jacket. Both contribute towards the GDP.