Joseph Muscat on Bondi+
Apparently, the prime minister has no experience of fiscal policy, even though he’s run the country since 2004 and was a cabinet minister for years before that, while Joseph Muscat was a Super One hack telling us not to vote for EU membership because we’d be over-run by hairdressers from Caltanisetta.
Now he’s banging on about cutting the salaries of ministers when he becomes prime minister. That’s nice: typical Labour, going after the lanzit vote. Vote Labour so that other people will earn less, rather than voting so that we’re all better off than we would otherwise be. I agree, though, that a Labour cabinet won’t be worth the money.
Ah, I see: we don’t have high unemployment thanks to employers who, at great cost and sacrifice to themselves and their companies, are keeping people on the payroll even though they are effectively redundant.
Gej bil-carried forward u budgets u projections, blinding the audience with Big Words from B. Com. To listen to him talk, you’d think he’d spent the last 20 years running a major industrial organisation, not setting up Maltastar, producing Made in Brussel and bumming around in the real Brussels while ‘researching and writing’ his doctoral thesis.
What kind of a banana republic is this, that plucks some hack from a political party’s propaganda machine and tells him ‘hey you, run the country, will you.’
Se nibqghu nisimghu dwar is-salarji tal-ministri?
All this effort to stir up lanzit. However much they’re earning, it’s nowhere near what his salary was as a member of the European Parliament, and nobody begrudged him it or said he didn’t deserve it because he had worked AGAINST EU membership us iss hej mhux fier missu baqa b’xejn.
And now the show is over.
Thank heavens, because every time I watch my future prime minister on television I remember him talking crap on Super One about how we shouldn’t join the EU and how we should work on ‘partnership’ instead. So credible.
Kien jaghmila kieku, il-PhD f’Bristol. Jew kien se jhallaslu d-daddy bil-flus tal-fireworks?
He even had the nerve to give us a patronising lesson on VAT – this from the man who championed its removal and hitched a ride on the coat-tails of the architect of – cue wild laughter – CET.
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Reminds me of Margaret Thatcher’s last speech in Parliament. “You’ll be happy to see the poor poorer, if the rich are poorer”.
L-ekonomista ser irahhas ir-rati b’mod “sostenibbli.”
He did not say “sostanzjali.” Am I the only one to note that?
In the villages, tomorrow, they will be talking about “substantial” reductions in water and electricity rates.
Uejjaaa int bis serjeta ciccio…..min diskors shih kelma sibt xi tmaqdar, b dawn it tip ta kummenti nkompli nsahhah il fehma tieghi dwar Joseph Muscat….maqdru kuncett u ideat imma mhux kelma ta. Skuzani siehbi pero qed tizloq fin nixef
Michael, hemm differenza sostanzjali bejn sostenibbli u sostanzjali, u l-uzu tal-kelma sostenibbli ma kienx zball. Bina ma jitnejjikx.
I’ve just put my finger on what irritates me so much about him on TV/radio: he has a pubescent voice, as in “lehnu qed jinkiser”.
TV’s worse. You get the full effect of that blank stare reciting practised replies.
Is Joseph eating a lot of carrots?
U ejja Daphne. Give him a break miskin.
L-ewwel sejjer jahtar kumitat, pero imbaghad, jekk ma toghgbux id-decizjoni ma jaccetajiex.
Dik demokrazijja hi!
u hallina Joey, mur afdak.
He did say that “for the first time in history, it will not be politicians who decide what their salary should be” – only to contradict himself within a few seconds by drawing comparisons with the English system.
Well, at least he tried to prove to us that he’s an economist, by mentioning in passing terms such as ‘opportunity cost’ and ‘other things being equal’.
[Daphne – O-level stuff, or at least it was in 1980.]
You mean ‘low’ level as Anglu would say!
As a general rule, if the first sentence on wikipedia explains the concept well enough, it is not part of a school of thought, it’s just general knowledge.
It was still in the 2000s – I guess it is still enough to impress most of his listeners.anyway.
Did he employ ‘on the other hand’! That’s always a good ‘ gettout’ for a cover-your-ass ‘economist’. (couldn’t follow his ‘speech’ in Maltese).
What about mpc, marginal propensity to consume, or his own definition, marginal propensity for crap?
I have a feeling that his ‘demand curve’ has become ‘inelastic’, the more he fakes it, the more the thinkers give up.
Harry, I was thinking about his supply curve. He must be trying hard to keep it up.
Terms like that are O-Level stuff. I remember them. Did he by any chance buy the text book for 5th formers and learn a few things? Has he learnt all about the demand and supply curve too?
And he kept insulting accountants because the Finance Minister is an accountant.
In fact, at least the finance minister has a proper degree along with a warrant that requires the adherence to a code of ethics, which is probably a word unfamiliar to Joseph
Oh yes, Daphne, but you forgot the part when, after he said he would roll back the ministerial increase, he also said that he would immediately appoint a committee/board of sorts “in order to determine what a fair salary would be for ministers”.
I am pretty sure that his ministers will jump for joy at the news that they would be paid less than their Nationalist counterparts were paid in the previous administration.
He is such a snake. He thinks that he can get away with anything and still thinks that he is, for Labour, the best thing since sliced bread.
I am not an economist but wouldn’t a reduction in VAT favour those who spend the most rather than the reverse as was stated by Joseph Muscat, considering that VAT is a tax on what you buy?
it would normally, but not if a reduction in VAT is compensated for by an increase in tax, being as it is that in the real life money does not grow on trees.
Then your average salaried middle class would end up with less spending power whilst your average tax evader would end up with more.
This might however increase female participation in the market as the mara tad-dar would have to go out to work in order to be able to afford a pizza once a week. Hmm quite a cunning plan really when one reflects upon in great detail..NOT!
Another sweeping statement, reduce VAT. Where did his polluter pays principle go?
It also seems he promised more car parks, read free parking.
With all due respect, it is a scientifically proven fact that more parking is equivalent to increased traffic and congestion.
Who the hell is writing their policies? I give up.
Is it just me or is the accent getting worse?
Let’s take a look at some of those 51 proposti konkreti, shall we?
3. Messaġġ ċar lis-self employed: INĦALLUKOM TAĦDMU u f’anqas burokrazija. (Why? Is preventing work an option?)
5. Gvern li jkun safe għall-business u negozji. (Labour? They must be joking.)
12. Jitnaqqsu l-kontijiet tad-dawl b’mod realistiku u sostenibbli. (Show us the money.)
13. Pjan ċar biex il-power station ta’ Delimara tinbidel minn Heavy Fuel Oil, għall-gass, li
jħammeġ anqas. (Ditto.)
17. Jingħata d-dritt tas-sħubija fi trade union lil membri tal-korpi dixxiplinati. (But not with the right to strike, which means membership is as good as useless.)
20. Iċ-ċavetta biex niffaċċjaw l-isfida tal-pensjonijet għandha tkun it-tkabbir ekonomiku. (Really? So what’s proposta 21, then?)
21. Ninċentivaw it-3rd Pillar Pensions li tiddaħħal b’mod volontarju.
27.Iż-żgħażagħ qabel il-burokrazija. Dak li jiġi mwiegħed lilhom, jitwettaq. (U hadd iehor jista jmur jiffonda.)
39. Inqisu t-traffiku u l-immaniġġjar tiegħu bħala priorita’ biex inaqsu mit-telf ta’ ħin prezzjuż. (A priority. That puts it before health care and utility bills.)
42. Nemmnu fi green economy bħala waħda li toħloq opportunitajiet ta’ xogħol. (Yes, and your proposal is…?)
47. Iċ-ċittadini jinqdew mill-qorti b’rispett u mingħajr dewmien żejjed. (Ha jindahal fl-indipendza u l-awtonomija tal-qorti, fi ftit kliem iehor.)
“Kuraġġ: dan il-poplu huwa aħjar minn dawk
li qed imexxuh bħalissa” – Joseph Muscat
A wish list of 51 proposals after 30 years without a decent “sustainable” majority?
I can come up with a wish list of more than 100 proposals in under 60 minutes.
http://www.azzopardinicky.com/2011/11/jasons-standing-ovation.html
Another worry for Joe.
Was it my impression that he was simpering and flirting with Lou Bondi?
[Daphne – He does that with everyone he wants to ‘seduce’. I imagine he can’t distinguish between charm and gender-appropriate behaviour.]
On Maltastar comments board today…
ALEC – 22 November 2011 13:43
FROM HIS CONFIDENT SPEECH DR MUSCAT WAS VERY PROUD OF WHAT MALTA .S FUTURE MUST DONE IF HE IS PRIME MINISTER, HE SHOW GONZI HOW CAN IMPROVE MALTA FROM SMALL TACKLES THAT REIGHN AGAIN IN THE PAST.HE IS SURE WHAT HE HAVE TO DO …….NOT LIKE GONZI LIES ..INVENTION TO PEOPLE AND THEN HE DONT MAKE NOTHING……HE HAVE GOOD PROGRAMME AND WE CAN SEE THAT FROM 10 QUESTIONS HE ASK 51 !!! VERY BRAVE DR JOSEPH MUSCAT ….I THINK SOME DOUBT PEOPLE HE LIKES THIS PERSON FOR OUR FUTURE.
FROM HIS MAGAZEEN DEFNI HE SHOW CAN COOK!!! RECIPES THE BEST! SHE HAVE GOOD PLATES AND FROM 10 RICETTS HE MAKE 51.
Lou made a good point about the ‘three wise men’ acting as remuneration committee but having a vested interest – and then if he does not like what they come up with he won’t accept it – and do what? Set up a body that will give him the answer he wants?
He is so puerile it beggars belief that he is in the position he’s in. When you see the alternatives maybe it does not.
Well, what would you make of a party that elects Joseph Muscat instead of George Abela, and Toni Abela and Anglu Farrugia instead of Gavin Gulia and Simon Micallef Stafrace?
What I loved a couple of months ago on some TV programme when Muscat uses the phrase ” Mill esperjenza manigerjali tieghi…………..’
What a load of crap.
Has he gone blond now?
[Daphne – Oh you noticed? Yes, he’s using different organic rinses. Anglu ‘s got himself some highlights, too. Or didn’t you notice that?]
No did not notice that, was too dazzled by the blond fuzz!
Read this:.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Norwegian-entrepreneur-offers-miracle-solution-for-electricity-bills-and-emissions
Saviour’s unchallenging questionsseek to bring out the positive aspects, but he never cornered Mr. Fleischer on the crucial issues. His final gratitude for “positive comments” is not typical of reporters.
It all sounds fishy to me.
1. Fleischer praises Enemalta, his potential client, far too often.
2. He says that Malta is the perfect place to build ships. Why did that also cost us Euro 1 billion of subsidies?
3. He tells us that the company he works for has had contacts with Malta, and he likes Malta.
4. But did he really mention any countries when Saviour asked him where his technology is used?
5. Well, actually, is the technology used anywhere at all? Apparently not. It appears that a 400MW plant which was due for 2011 start-up in Norway won’t be commissioned until 2015 (see links below). A major delay appears to have developed already on the first project. How can one be sure the technology will work fully if the first project is already behind schedule?
8. He says the price of electricity goes down by about a half. According to Reuters, the cost of electricity will fall by at most 25%, but then there is the cost of disposing (as opposed to capturing) of the carbon dioxide. The plant captures a lot of gas. I’m sure Joseph Muscat would find use for a lot of it, but, to his credit, there would still be too much of it left over. It will need to be exported and buried under the seabed. That is a costly operation.
10. We will still rely on “fossil” fuel sold at international prices. It even depends on coal, which we are supposed to stop using because of the storage problems and other difficulties.
12. We will not own the power station.
13. We will be too overdependent on one supplier’s private power station.
http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/5529
http://sequestration.mit.edu/tools/projects/index.html
“We expect power generation to cost about 0.30-0.35 Norwegian crowns ($0.047-$0.055) per kilowatt hour including costs of capture,” Fleischer said.
Fleisher said COST, but he did not specify which cost.
His estimate for the COAL RUN plant was $700 million,(at 1.3425 it’s € 522 million), his Malta plant would cost One billion EURO that’s double the sum.
COSTof producing will be around ten cents of a dollar with a coal fired plant.
The big headache is what to do with the carbon dioxide after it’s trapped in cylinders. He’s saying that it will be buried below the seabed.
In other words we will pass the problem under the carpet for our grandchildren to deal with in the future.Or shall we start filling fire extinguishers and CO2 cylinders for industry?
It is interesting how the capturing of gases and ash produced by this plant is shown to us as a good thing while the new Delimara extension was presented to us as producing some seven containers(?) of fly ash to be inhaled by our children.Coal is dirtier than HFO, it produces less ash and is easy to store unlike coal. Remember Marsa?
What if the floating power station sinks – insurance costs?
Where will it be anchored, between Filfla and Wied Iz-Zurrieq? Noise levels?
About the seven containers per day of fly ash, Enemalta should break even and is probably making some money, it is a good additive for Tarmac and concrete.
Saviour interviewed a salesman who wants the people to buy the project to pave the path for a public outcry against the ‘dirty’ technology we have today.
Journalists should keep at an arms distance from questioning people who are specialists in their fields – you wouldn’t send Daphne to interview a football coach, and you wouldn’t send Salvu ito interview an engineer who wants to make a quick buck on innovative energy which some engineers would not understand.
Now why does AMS keep to coming to mind?
Governments, and buyers, should always be wary of those who sell new untested technology, especially when they propose to retain the technology for themselves.
Those salesman might actually be asking the buyer to finance their research and development, which they will then retain for themselves.
And they will be seeking to secure cheap funding, and to build their book of orders, at a critical, highly risky part of their business.
If the venture fails, the risk would lie squarely on the buyer. There are some buyers who might be interested in taking those risks, but usually they are expert buyers who can judge the risk well.
Malta does not have the luxury to take on the risks for those businesses. Malta can only afford to commit itself to tested technology. Ghaqal.
The same proposal is being examined in Britain, the proponents do NOT guarantee that emissions pumped into the bedrock won’t gradually find their way back to the surface.
It’s why the plant in Norway has been delayed. The issue here becomes the ethics behind such technology and whether disposing of emissions into rock instead of the atmosphere is in fact distorting the spirit of the Kyoto Protocol. It’s a bit like saying we’re not emitting anything, for now.
As for biomass, there’s been ample evidence of abuse by officials in charge of monitoring the process of conversion of waste into biomass by allowing the integration of quantities required. This means we won’t have control over who controls the supply of fuel and in effect, what fuel.
Is this what we want to let ourselves in for?
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/emissions/ccs/ccs.aspx
Note how the demonstrator plant envisaged for Scotland has been stopped, still the UK government remains ‘firmly committed’ as part of its industrial strategy.
In other words both the UK and Norway, with ample reserves of coal, and with a strong coal lobby, are exploring this method to reduce their dependence on oil. The Norwegian model introduces biomass given its managed forests.
Both models are, however, based on their respective countries’ natural resources.
It is also to be noted that ‘safe’ storage is defined as depleted oil and gas fields, or deep saline water aquifers. We definitely don’t have the first two, as for the saline aquifers, aren’t these too close to the fresh water aquifer for comfort? Unless they want to provide us with carbonated tap water of course…
One other detail to note, is that both the UK and Norway already have the pipelines running from depleted oil fields in the north sea to onshore pumping facilities in place.
Is this being factored in as part of the investment? Or is that up to us?
CCS is an area still under research and development. The EU has its own advisory organisation about CCS – the ZEP (Zero Emissions Platform) – no, it is not named for Zep Muscat.
Although it will be important technology for the future, I think it is very risky and not a priority for a tiny country like ours to invest money in it now.
So putting CCS as an objective in the strategy to combat carbon emissions is an EU policy. Malta can benefit from the EU experience until the technology is feasible. The EU itself has set the use of CCS within the long term strategy, more likely to be implemented between 2020 and 2050.
http://www.zeroemissionsplatform.eu/
This is of course my personal view.
And what return on investment would this company expect to make per annum on an investment of €1b. Assuming a very low return of 10% per annum, for this sort of risky investment, you can do the maths.
Tonight’s programme brought us GonziPlus and MuscatMinus.
What happened to the car registartion tax refund caper? The one where he gets a refund on his €75k (or according to him €60K) so he can buy his family a bit of steak as Mich (the DIK) can’t see any more pizza miskina.
And don’t let’s forget the living wage.
They may have conveniently perhaps slipped his mind, but not to worry, we’ll remind him, constantly.
How can some of you be so stupid. Gonzi been lying to the Maltese public all his life. Give a chance to Joseph and we will see. You could tell all of you bunch of sisi all from Sliema area because always against south.
I never knew villages around Paola were in the Sliema area.
Sisi? Do you mean sissies? Typical Labour insult.
Maybe he thought we were all Austrian princesses
What’s it with hair and these guys? And make up…either plastered in it or completely naked like a pink sausage.
Anyway, I do hope that in their case form does not follow function because the form is appalling.
What scares me truly is not the hair and make-up so much as the class hatred which came out of Joseph Muscat’s speech last Monday. One really gets used to life not hearing such lanzit and it is a shock to hear it again.
What he never says, of course, is that he’s not worried about income from public office because he’s got private finance.
Maybe someone should ask him whether he plans to reduce utility bills to save on the cost of running a swimming pool.
Definitely.
It’s the new middle class you see, a swimming pool by right ‘biex inkunu bhas-sinjuri.’
Of course he would want to pay his ministers less. He knows he can only have monkeys in his cabinet, so he might as well pay them peanuts.