12-06-2005 18:04									#31
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Was that a reply to me? I have Kid on ignore since someone posted that devious link which did that. Didn't feel a major decrease in the overall quality of the Poly experience

	12-06-2005 18:49									#32
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quote: Originally posted by Saras And no one is "sacrificing the social system". Ours is as good as we can afford, and I guess more efficient since it is on tight rations.

You offer your labor for cheaper so your labor is in more demand and then you claim that it's better for everyone. It should be clear to anyone with a brain that if everyone did this your wages wouldn't be increasing and you wouldn't have the same job creation.

	12-06-2005 19:48									#33
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Spiffor, the same concerns were raised about NAFTA between Canada, the US and Mexico. Sure it is true, at the outset that the lagging country will take some jobs away from the others, but it is also true that there will be new jobs created in order to take advantage of the increase in trade between the countries when the tariff barriers drop.

You protect some jobs at the expense of other jobs, which does not get you ahead. Rather it keeps you in the same place as you have been, which means that you will lag behind the countries that are growing much faster.

	12-06-2005 19:53									#34
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quote: Originally posted by Spiffor The Eurozone is currently extremely unattractive for investors (domestic and foreign), who prefer to invest in central and eastern Europe, as well as in other emerging countries (for a much less important part).

http://www.finfacts.com/biz10/forei...nvestmenteu.htm

France was the biggest recipient of extra-EU foreign direct investment in 2003 (let's ignore Luxembourg in this), ahead of the UK, and then Spain and Germany, 2 other Eurozone countries.

Top league of intra-EU FDI recipients (ignoring Luxembourg again): France, Belgium, Spain, Holland, Italy...

Table:

	12-06-2005 21:33									#35
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quote: Originally posted by Colon France was the biggest recipient of extra-EU foreign direct investment in 2003 (let's ignore Luxembourg in this), ahead of the UK, and then Spain and Germany, 2 other Eurozone countries.

Last time I checked (about one year ago), France was the least unattractive country of the Eurozone with a whooping -10% in foreign investment in comparison with the previous year.

	12-06-2005 21:53									#36
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FDI fluctuates heavily and a country can have 20 billion in one year, and a 100 billion in the other. (because of a major takeover for instance) That's why I posted a table of the average FDI over 5 years. A 10% swing doesn't mean a lot.

	12-06-2005 23:02									#37
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OK. Thanks for the clarification.

If the French/German etc. economies are so attractive, why are nearly all of our politicians saying we must make sacrifices in order to raise our competitivity (they mean price-competitivity)? Are they merely simple-minded?

	12-06-2005 23:10									#38
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Dunno. Politicians are stupid.

To me deregulation, lowering taxes and the like are a matter of spurring job-growth and enterpreneurship. I've never bothered much with this nebulous concept of competiveness.

	12-06-2005 23:23									#39
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Lowering taxes are a form of sacrifice.

If you have a growing economy, it is often enough to keep taxes the same, without cutting.