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Post by Ribaric on Feb 11, 2012 2:08:23 GMT 1
Without a political bone in my body, I find that just living here forces a number of observations to be recognised. I've done 6 years now and I see....
50% of the working population have no job. The majority of those who do are paid less than 3000 kuna netto per month. Varazdin has a glut of unused business premises, apartment values are falling fast, the price of fuel has rocketed (30%... more?) over the last 2 years and inflation is about 5-7% I'd guess. PDV is about to go up and petrol is now well over 10 kuna per litre. The kuna is slowly but clearly sinking against the hard currencies thus raising the prices of imported goods (pretty much everything).
At the same time, the city of Varazdin now employs more people than ever before, mis-management and croneyism is the order of the day in the Zupanija to a growing level. Government support for SMEs is de-facto non existent (read Madgolfer's posts).
Never before have so many people come cold-knocking on my door asking for help, people with jobs cannot heat their homes, kids cannot pay the bus fare to school, gardens are "featuring" more unregistered cars than I've seen before.
I don't know about the coastal region but I do see clear signs that the 'Kopno' regions are in a slump/depression. I don't see any sign of a plan to turn it around.
Views?
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Post by Madgolfer on Feb 11, 2012 11:02:55 GMT 1
I would agree with all of ribs comments above.
In my business I get to meet a lot of Brits looking to get out of the UK and many of them use the same reasons that Rib quotes such as rising prices - low incomes - political mismanagement and rising social problems.
Many people in the UK are currently only surviving because of low interest rates, what is going to happen when they start to rise again?
I do not hear the same comments from Croats about a rise of social problems however.
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Post by ray51 on Feb 11, 2012 13:46:59 GMT 1
Sadly for those amongst us who actually tried to maximise their savings for years , as opposed to going mad abusing their credit cards , mortgage offers and other easy credit , the prevailing low-to-non-existent interest rates mean that the "safe" ( as if ANY bank were safe in todays mess of this new world we live in ? ) such savings are constantly being eroded by inflation and ever newer additional costs , like new taxes . In anycase , the int. rates are likely stay low , if not lower still , at least until after 2016 , thus punishing the savers and assisting and rewarding the spendthrifts . This is not a problem in the U.K. only ( or the whole Disney-fantasy of a prosperous economy depending on fast-food outlets , Hypermarkets , robber-barons of banks and " financial services ", ever more overweight public service and the population gleaming with pride , because the price of accommodation here can only go up , but never down , in real terms - otherwise the whole house of cards , as dreamt up by Blair , Brown and their help-themselves cronies , might collapse sooner , rather than later - and you should have been with me in SW London and Surrey to witness December and January frenzy and maddness of conspicious consumption and "plastic" abuse ...reccession ? Which one , pray ? Maybe/for sure in Greece , Hungary , Portugal , France and Belgium , among others ) , but also in majority of western EU-countries I am familiar with , all victims of Bruxelles & Merkozy grandiose schemes , incompetence , bureaucracy and huge waste ( by ever multyplying "public service" ) of zillions of monies , ill-gained by savage taxation .
BTW , who is the beauty on the photo , Rib ?
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Post by crojoe on Feb 11, 2012 16:32:05 GMT 1
Sadly for those amongst us who actually tried to maximise their savings for years , as opposed to going mad abusing their credit cards , mortgage offers and other easy credit , the prevailing low-to-non-existent interest rates mean that the "safe" ( as if ANY bank were safe in todays mess of this new world we live in ? ) such savings are constantly being eroded by inflation and ever newer additional costs , like new taxes . In anycase , the int. rates are likely stay low , if not lower still , at least until after 2016 , thus punishing the savers and assisting and rewarding the spendthrifts . This is not a problem in the U.K. only ( or the whole Disney-fantasy of a prosperous economy depending on fast-food outlets , Hypermarkets , robber-barons of banks and " financial services ", ever more overweight public service and the population gleaming with pride , because the price of accommodation here can only go up , but never down , in real terms - otherwise the whole house of cards , as dreamt up by Blair , Brown and their help-themselves cronies , might collapse sooner , rather than later - and you should have been with me in SW London and Surrey to witness December and January frenzy and maddness of conspicious consumption and "plastic" abuse ...reccession ? Which one , pray ? Maybe/for sure in Greece , Hungary , Portugal , France and Belgium , among others ) , but also in majority of western EU-countries I am familiar with , all victims of Bruxelles & Merkozy grandiose schemes , incompetence , bureaucracy and huge waste ( by ever multyplying "public service" ) of zillions of monies , ill-gained by savage taxation . BTW , who is the beauty on the photo , Rib ? That’s a good thought, minimise your savings or maximise your debt? While I actually am not in retirement mode or sitting a load of savings it does feel good not to be in debt to no man (or woman), bank or loan shark. Reading the tax intention of the local government I can see that it must be done to please someone, just not sure who. For example they want to up the PDV from 23% to 25% but then lower national health care contribution from 15% down to 13%. The plus is that 2% lowering of health contributions, but then the company owner has to higher his final asking price due to the extra 2% PDV to be implemented next month (doubt many Croat companies would suck up that extra 2% tax). Changes to Personal Income Tax (“PIT”) : Taxation of foreign pensions has been introduced. The rate of mandatory health insurance payable by employers is reduced from 15% to 13%. Increase of the monthly basic personal allowance from HRK 1,800 to HRK 2,200
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Post by ray51 on Feb 11, 2012 20:20:57 GMT 1
Many people I respect have argued , over last 30 or so years , that PDV is the most unfairest tax of them all ! And I think that I tend to agree with them ! Why should that be so ? Because , the least affluent members of any society tend to need to/have to spend most or all of their after-tax income on everyday-survival neccessities , food , utilities , transport , clothing and other daily hand-to-mouth spending discomforts . Whereas the more privileged ones ( for whichever reason , political or other/s ) spend less percentage-wise on basics and are more apt and able to obtain advice and assistance , with protecting their income , savings , fringe benefits etc . Secondly : once these kind of taxes , and I mention , among others : PDV , CGT , dividends' tax , taxes on one's residential property , be it primary residence or indeed : not , then the wealth tax , council tax , excise duties , luxury tax , road tax etc ( which old Romans never could have invented ! There was a 10% flat tax , never mind how poor or rich anyone was , in their extended empire ) are legally in place , what's to stop governments and ( often : unelected ) bureaucrats to adjust them , usually : upwards , little by little or , indeed : by quite a bit ? Look at this example of play-play , with the minds of fools : after 480+ days of never having a government in place , once prosperous but nowadays much retro-gressing Belgium now has an official government ( a circus-like coalition of opposing parties , who among themselves , elitistically trade jobs , favours , horses and musical chairs ! So much for " democracy " ! ) , led by one Ellio di Rupo , a sot ( well , he'd prefer to be a commie , but that word seems to have achieved unpleasant aromas and odours , of lately !? ) . The first 2 acts introduced by this new government ; - increase the ( automatically witheld ) tax on savings and other passive ( "unearned" ) income , like on risky investments , SICAVs etc , from 15% which was the case for many a year , to now 21% all of a sudden ; - decrease the compulsory social/med.aid semi-private contributions , which , at 37Euro50 per quarter for 2 adults in a houshold last year ( much too cheap IMHO ! ) , are now 7Euro50 per month , irrespective of how many in a household ! I.e. a sum not worth the trouble and paperwork of collecting same ! That's how EUrope's modern Fuehrers , very popular with have-nots , work-nots ) ensure popular support and that in next ellections they remain first in the queue to the troph , as in Orwell's opus ! A reasonable man on the Clapham double-decker might consider such steps a sheer madness , but the ga-ga sheep get much excited and carried away by impossible promises of the " new" social-democrats ( just look at the unholy mess Blair and Brown left U.K in , after 3 terms ! ) And , when Sarkozy loses later in the year , to as red as a proper commie , obsolete sot of 1950's = Nil ideas but : laden with promises that can never be afforded, fullfilled nor delivered , watch the cool Frau Merkel , acting as the queen of defunct DDR , waiting for the German Volk to finally shout out : this far and no further , we've had enough of being the EU-paymaster , sack the other 20-odd members of it or give us our beloved D-Mark back and let them losers stew in their own EUro-sauce !
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Post by gmh on Feb 11, 2012 21:49:03 GMT 1
Yep, we are living in a efd up nation in a efd up world. Times are tough here for a lot of people, but at the same time I see an equal if not greater amount of people spending as usual. I don't think raising of pdv is really the best answer to the governments liquidity problem. I'm no expert, but I know what I do. If PDV goes up, my spending goes down. I'm pretty sure that will be the case with a lot of people. Is there really any gain with higher tax, when there's less to tax ? As for this statement. 'I do not hear the same comments from Croats about a rise of social problems however.' Depends what social problems you're talking about. Bank (and similar) robbery has risen drastically over the last few years, as has petty theft. Zagreb has seen a rash of 'gold buying' shops open up, many of which even advertise the fact that they will accept gold fillings from your teeth !! All of them will buy gold jewelry without the legal requirement to take note of identification. Basically just fencing stolen gold. Still they build shopping centres, still they build more new apartments and still apartments and houses are listed for more than 1000 euro per m2 here in Zagreb, and those shopping centres are quite happy to spend hundreds of thousands of kuna for their 3 day opening events. My mind boggles.
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Post by ray51 on Feb 11, 2012 22:27:28 GMT 1
Still no reply to the most important question : who is the beauty in the piccie , Rib ?
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Post by Madgolfer on Feb 12, 2012 9:41:39 GMT 1
The picture is of Rib. He was a away a few weeks back having cosmetic surgery. ;D By social problems I was referring more to the sort of general unrest in the streets of the UK and many other EU cities. The one thing that really gets my back up more than anything else is the "shoulder-shrug" attitude of many Croatians, usually accompanied with the comment "Oh well what can you do" or "There is no point, nothing can be done" To many people here seem to accept that their Govt control them and not the other way around. Sad.
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Post by upthevilla on Feb 12, 2012 9:47:07 GMT 1
The one thing that really gets my back up more than anything else is the "shoulder-shrug" attitude of many Croatians, usually accompanied with the comment "Oh well what can you do" or "There is no point, nothing can be done" I totally agree but what can i do about it ? There is Nothing that can be done
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Post by happy on Feb 12, 2012 10:42:14 GMT 1
The one thing that really gets my back up more than anything else is the "shoulder-shrug" attitude of many Croatians, usually accompanied with the comment "Oh well what can you do" or "There is no point, nothing can be done" I totally agree but what can i do about it ? There is Nothing that can be done Get a job in government. As the old saying go - if you can't beat them, join them!
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Post by Ribaric on Feb 12, 2012 10:52:10 GMT 1
I have no idea who she is but I saw her on someone else's avatar on another forum and, probably like you, was captivated by such beauty. So I stole her. Anyone know? My previous favourite was... and I don't know who she is either.
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Post by crojoe on Feb 12, 2012 11:53:59 GMT 1
The picture is of Rib. He was a away a few weeks back having cosmetic surgery. ;D By social problems I was referring more to the sort of general unrest in the streets of the UK and many other EU cities. The one thing that really gets my back up more than anything else is the "shoulder-shrug" attitude of many Croatians, usually accompanied with the comment "Oh well what can you do" or "There is no point, nothing can be done" To many people here seem to accept that their Govt control them and not the other way around. Sad. Well, this reason this happens is because people aren't that desperate yet. People still have their houses, their cars, their designer jeans and coffee cafe. The youth are propped up by their parents. And repossessions of any loans aren’t really happening. To add to this, other then getting fired up over nationalistic topics or a football match Croats are pretty serene people and more talk then action. Just watching the ACTA demonstration yesterday and it was like a handful of people only, and most, if not all where youth. Most protests I have seen in Croatia never go anywhere or reach their purpose.
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Post by ray51 on Feb 12, 2012 12:28:32 GMT 1
Congratulations on super selections of unknown beauties ( Keep up the good work , Rib ! ) . Now that this major issue has been resolved , we can all return to the rest of smaller daily problems e.g the most of the western world going to the dogs , Iran/Israel , Chinese pillaging Africa , why Obama achieves precisely Nothing etc etc...
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Post by gmh on Feb 12, 2012 19:43:16 GMT 1
I have no idea who she is but I saw her on someone else's avatar on another forum and, probably like you, was captivated by such beauty. So I stole her. Anyone know? My previous favourite was... and I don't know who she is either. Sure i know who she is. She's one of the chicks from this page www.fotologando.com/2010/04/belas-mulheres.htmlNow you can change your avatar every day. Enjoy.
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Post by crojoe on Feb 12, 2012 20:17:24 GMT 1
I have no idea who she is but I saw her on someone else's avatar on another forum and, probably like you, was captivated by such beauty. So I stole her. Anyone know? My previous favourite was... and I don't know who she is either. Sure i know who she is. She's one of the chicks from this page www.fotologando.com/2010/04/belas-mulheres.htmlNow you can change your avatar every day. Enjoy. You better vote against ACTA if you want to continue using her.
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