The State of the Economy



A Porsche and some fancy Mercedes, . . .

 

and they're not yet out of sight when they're joined by another Porsche . . .

I had family over for dinner this week, and one of the main topics of conversations was the economy. That’s better than politics, so I did not complain. Now that they’ve all closed their books for 21013, they know how much money they made last year, and the general consensus was: “none.” It almost became a jousting match over the dinner table who had made less, and who had made the least.  “You at least made some money on project so-and-so, I made nothing at all, I don’t even cover my expenses,” went the arguments back and forth.

I don’t know who got the prize for making the least amount of money, but the consensus was that our economy is in a dire state.


and another one. Oh no, this is a Lamborghini. 



And yet another Porsche.

The news supports that. We’ve seen a drop of some 7% in tourist arrivals at the airport in 2013, and a drop of 40% since 2010, according to the Ministry of Tourism.  “The Syrian refugee crisis has taken a heavy toll on Lebanon’s society and economy,” said Prime Minister Mikati yesterday, (Source) and according to the International Monetary Fund, our national income suffered indirect losses estimated at $7.5 billion. The unemployment rate is close to 29%, there’s a fall in economic growth to a mere 1%, the lack of rain plagues both farmers and those working in the ski-industry, as there is not snow and the season is halfway over.

Some 10 minutes later, another Lamborghini (different license place, I checked), and yet another Porsche, . .

and while they have barely cleared the scene, another nice vehicle, a Mercedes this time.

So we’re not doing so well. It seems.

And I was thinking of that when I had to drive up north for some work. And in a matter of a mere 30 minutes, I saw more Porches and Lamborghinis than I would see in Holland in a year. So how bad are we really doing? Or is there just a problem with the division of it all?