The signs were given long ago.

Probably to justify what’s on the cards.

Protectionism will somehow be with us again.

I agree that the mantra resulted or was a mask for keeping salaries low. However, that meaning is only assumed in countries like Malta where businesses rarely have any sense about how to differentiate themselves on the basis of value other than price.

Muscat is facing a serious problem. Actually, scratch that. Malta is facing a serious problem. Muscat doesn’t really care. Instead of reinventing retail, the industry will bleed out naturally. Muscat will either let it bleed or fix it the usual labour way – protectionism.

However, and this is where I claim that Muscat has learnt nothing from any of the works he has cited in the doctoral thesis, protectionism leads to gross inefficiencies, unemployment, and a general drop in the standard of living.

The fall in employment will be significantly worse relative to when Mintoff was in power. This time there are immigrants willing to settle for below average wages. So Maltese unemployed will stay at home and rest on welfare.

Those who “switched” and voted Labour didn’t realise that this was coming.

a) a Ph.D in public policy; b) 3-odd years managing an online newspaper (really badly); c) a 5-year European parliament vacation.

And the guy is at the helm of an EU member state.

In some larger shops, there is a big counter and you can’t even look at the items behind the counter because they are far away and you can’t go there, imagine someone with vision problems.

At least one small retailer is setting good prices.

This is the only shop I know with such good prices.

Sorry, I forgot the window stickers as well. SALE SALE SALE. Xandir Malta ads are hard to forget.

Somebody wants to get a grip of this shit about all these bloody shops (and I mean all over the island) that claim 50 percent off of this, 75 percent off of that) that have been in shop windows for years and not just Valletta. EU Laws my arse

Eco taxes exist in other European countries, where retailers have an additional factor to worry about: customers can just cross the border and do their shopping elsewhere.

It seems to me that Maltese retailers got caught up in the government’s propaganda and – even worse – in the national narrative of Malta as a massive shopping mall. The Prime Minister says he wants to turn Malta into a Dubai or Singapore in the Med. This is exactly what he had in mind.

If you retailers are doing badly, it’s because the Maltese were raised to buy the sort of stuff that you find in shopping malls, and a fortiori, on the internet. Get your customers to hanker after the custom-built and the unique, convert your business accordingly, and you will thrive.

I am glad that on this issue at least, my aims and yours converge beautifully.

He will stop internet money transfers or tax these heavily in the name of protectionism.