Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hasn't Estonia had the most successful economy of the former communist countries? They were the first to go with the flat tax.
When a third of your budget comes as a courtesy of EU, when your 1.2 million people can rely on demand from Germany... sure, you're going to be successful.
I was about to post some info related to Germany. This touches on one explanation for why the Baltic countries are doing better even with austerity.
Quote:
What recoveries they have enjoyed, many economists put down to geography. Christensen said: "If you compare the Baltic states to Bulgaria, which has passed similar austerity measures and has not recovered in any way to the same degree, there is only one real difference and that is, who's your neighbour."
The Baltic states are near the wealthy Scandinavian countries, while Bulgaria sits next to Greece. Latvia does almost 70% of its foreign trade with the Nordics, Germany, Poland and Russia, which have all returned to growth...
I was about to post some info related to Germany. This touches on one explanation for why the Baltic countries are doing better even with austerity.
Bulgaria is also extremely corrupt. Let's not pretend that doesn't make a difference. Also, the Baltic states are on the Baltic Sea, with easy shipping access to wealthy countries. Bulgaria's on the Black Sea, with easy access to...Romania? Ukraine? Turkey? Abkhazia? um.... Case closed.
Not very convincing. As you can see this data is from 2009, and has no relevance to the time period in question. Additionally the estimate quoted in the piece isn't supported by anything.
I was about to post some info related to Germany. This touches on one explanation for why the Baltic countries are doing better even with austerity.
It is even more interesting to see the Estonia is doing great argument when you consider that the recovery in Estonia isn't anything to write home about. The real GDP has crawled upwards but is still at a level last seen in late 2008-2009.
But, it is understandable why Estonian President would get his panties twisted in a knot at Krugman's remark. His perspective is that of a governing politician.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
