Today’s post was written by a Hungarian political commentator who is calling on the European Union, the European People’s Party, and those member states who care about Hungarian democracy to act at last.
♦ ♦ ♦
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Friday (3 April) that he has “no time” to deal with the scathing criticism by EU allies of the sweeping powers he has assumed, ostensibly to tackle the coronavirus threat. I can fully understand why Orbán has no time. Besides dealing with the pandemic, he must eliminate the last remnants of democracy in Hungary and provide his cronies with even more chances to continue their plundering of the country.
During Orbán’s reign, the Hungarian Parliament was transformed into a mere rubber stamp of the prime minister’s will. However, at least opposition politicians could speak there, submit proposals, discuss the proposed measures in various committees, and all these activities were to some extent reflected in the media. Now, all this has come to an end, and with the new law “On protecting against the coronavirus” Orbán secured the power to rule by decree in perpetuity. Yet even this did not satisfy him.
The new law allows for up to a five-year prison sentence for “spreading false or distorted information” regarding the fight against the coronavirus. And it is the government who decides whether the journalist should be summoned to court for violating this law. In the last few days, I received information from reliable sources that many journalists are already in despair and are resorting to self-censorship. This is even more understandable because media revenues are falling drastically. Newspapers cannot be sold on the streets, and advertisements are disappearing from all independent media due to the financial difficulties of many companies. The government, however, is still pouring an enormous amount of money into the government-friendly media. All this means that, even if life returns to normal after a few months, the independent media might be wiped out almost completely.
The government’s decision to substantially reduce the funding of political parties (allegedly to raise money for the fight against the coronavirus) will be an enormous blow to all opposition parties because their financing is predominantly based on state money. At the same time, there is no limit to the government’s continued funding to strengthen its own party, Fidesz – by, among other means, funding those “NGOs” whose main activity is to spread government propaganda.
The requirement that municipalities transfer part of their revenues to the government, ostensibly for the fight against the virus, is evidently meant to weaken those municipalities whose constituencies dared to elect candidates of the opposition as mayors. There can be no other explanation for this measure as it is the municipalities that are on the front line against the epidemic while they lack the financial and other means to cope with this insuperable task.
Orbán has had ill feelings toward universities for a long time, since he knows only too well that students are often at the heart of revolutions. So now, he found the perfect time to eliminate the autonomy of five big Hungarian universities.
This is how Viktor Orbán fights the coronavirus. This young soldier is supposed to oversee the activities of the hospital director and the mayor of the city
Orbán also needs a lot of time to support his family and his friends. Just a few days ago, the government allocated $6 million to a company which forms part of the business empire of István Tiborcz, the prime minister’s son-in-law, and Lőrinc Mészáros, the prime minister’s childhood friend, to build a new port at Lake Balaton. (Compare this sum with the $3.5 million that Orbán intends to take away from the political parties!) Moreover, this construction would be another nail in the coffin of the lake as its ecosystem is already strained due to the many newly constructed hotels and other facilities (mainly with public money provided to Orbán’s friends).
Another provision of the new law gives the government extraordinary power to continue to construct huge new buildings in the Budapest City Park (Városliget), which is strongly opposed by the Budapest Municipality and by more than 80% of the Budapest citizens and is good only for some friends of Orbán who are doing the construction work. Although the government declared that they will not construct any new buildings without the consent of the Budapest Municipality, work necessary for them are already being carried out on the spot.
Still another provision of the law offers new opportunities for the land grab already widely practiced by Fidesz. Now even nature parks are under threat.
There is only one way to stop Orbán running amok: suspend EU funding to the Hungarian government. We have already seen many times that Orbán simply laughs at words. The only thing he understands is money (and power, of course). There is ample legal ground to suspend the funding (we already wrote about this topic in 2017).
The main argument against such suspension is that then the Hungarian people will suffer. However, suspension does not mean discontinuing funding forever. As soon as the Hungarian government fulfills the EU’s requirements, funding could and should be immediately renewed. These requirements are set out in the 2019 Recommendation of the European Council to Hungary, which, by the way, was also approved by the Hungarian government and which includes, among other recommendations, the following: “Reinforce the anti-corruption framework, including by improving prosecutorial efforts and access to public information, and strengthen judicial independence. Improve the quality and transparency of the decision-making process through effective social dialogue and engagement with other stakeholders and through regular, appropriate impact assessments.” (These recommendations are based on the Country Reports by the European Commission, where many details can be found. For example, in the Country Report Hungary 2020, the word “corruption” figures 38 times.)
But there is a much weightier argument for the suspension of the EU funding. As was stated by Guy Verhofstadt and Sophie In ’t Veld, members of the European Parliament, “Europe will be destroyed by Orbán’s authoritarianism – unless it unites to stop him.” We all know from history that authoritarianism can be just as contagious as the coronavirus. History has also taught us that dictatorship, discord among nations, and the violation of internationally accepted rules and norms can cause even more calamities and deaths than the coronavirus. The EU must make the right decision now.
A very well written piece. If until now it was deemed improper in some quarters to call Orbán a fascist, I trust this may loosen those inhibitions. I only have one cautionary note to make regarding the proposed remedy: “There is only one way to stop Orbán running amok: suspend EU funding to the Hungarian government.”
These are faint hopes. The EU had 10 years to get its act together. It won’t take this step, and not because it would not dare to do so in the middle of an epidemic, but because such a step is in utter opposition to the interests of its central bankers and the reigning business elites especially in Germany, for whom Orbán is a boon. Please stop, stop for heaven’s sake hoping for salvation from “the West”. It didn’t come in 1918-1919, in 1945, in 1956, and won’t come now. There is only one way to stop Orbán running amok – and that will only happen when working men and women in Hungary finally say enough is enough, and take control of their own destinies. No one knows that better than VO. That’s why he’s reaching for extraordinary powers.
Andras
Yes, the theory says revolutions or radical changes come in crisis, the s.c. revolutionary situation (Lenin), but the Huns are a special case – one can plow their backs as long as the plow is “nemzeti” (PM Teleki).
I was disgusted today listening to the call in program at noon , where half of them were bitching against someone else:
– why do country dwellers drive into Bud and bring in the virus (where Bud is the most infected place)
– why aren’t pensioners allowed to shop before 9 (they have exclusive slot between 9 and 12) as they find everything striped, mixed, etc after the early shoppers (none true),
– why doesn’t gov imposed complete ban on movement as “I haven’t left me apartment for three weeks” or
– why does the gov restrict movement so much, “the elderly need regular movement ,,”
Intolerance, lack of consideration, everyone else is wrong …
And these are the better bunch… we think.
On the issue of the five year sentence for spreading misinformation. Events in UK highlight just how important it is to limit misinformation. Public safety and well-being depends on it.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/4/21207927/5g-towers-burning-uk-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-link
As far as debates? Right now, a country with less debate more resolute action brought the pandemic under control. In EU there are currently about as many people dying of the virus each day as the Chinese government oficially recorded throughout the outbreak. Is this the time for debates?
Lastly, at a time like this it is outright criminal for any Hungarian to be calling for Hungary to be sanctioned financially by the EU. This year it will be a very dangerous period for the world’s economy, and particularly for the EU economy and its members, given that it was already a basketcase before all this. Shameful!
If no debates are needed, you should be quiet with your dissent!
Great response Gyula to Zoli! Sometime all we need is one great sentence.
Zoltán, I know, colonists working for the FIDESZ machine aren’t interested in facts, but limiting free speech is not stopping any disease and it takes time from more important things (no, I am not thinking about the “work” mentioned in the article)! Punishable are items that “could distort the public”. And what your boss does is always distorting, so nobody may report about.
Every democracy is living by debate, by looking for the best solutions. In these days functioning democracies showed that agreement can be reached both fast and with broad majorities. Only anti-democrats are afraid of debates.
And I call the EU no longer to fund the corrupt regime. All member states have a responsibility against their tax payers. It would be a crime to pump further money into private pockets of their enemies. It was a huge mistake not to react on the mafia state already in 2013, now we have the very last chance that the EU acts. If not it is abolishing itself.
Finally, a voice of sanity and decency in a sea of sheer madness by neo-Marxist, anti-Hungarian EB and her claque of rootless, globalist sycophants. Right on Zoli!
That’s a really funny comment. Zoltán decent! The master of sheer madness himself, always in love to those who destroy our country! Funny!!!!
OT: just to share and particularly those with a science-music bent…
Fascinating …wonder what the sound would have been if Mozart or
Beethoven got a hold of that virus.😎
A commenter on the sound work noted it as ‘madness’ just as a poster here who sees ‘sheer madness’ among neo-Marxists, anti – Hungarian etc etc etc.
But really the ‘madness’ is the anti-democratic rabbit hole Magyarorszag is being squeezed down into listening to a sort of lullabye music like this which is as one individual put it, seems a ‘deathly melody’.
https://soundcloud.com/user-275864738/viral-counterpoint-of-the-coronavirus-spike-protein-2019-ncov
Just in !! I heard many things in this underpass, but your re-branding of our kindly and hardworking Éva as “a neo-Marxist, anti-Hungarian” is truly an incredible work of fantasy. You sound like you’re just in zo-lee. What took you so long? No right of passage? Why not “Take the A Train” and sing “Just in Time, I found you just in time…..”
To what ‘events in the UK’ are you referring? Governments everywhere need to be held to account. The British public expect and deserve this, and most people are well enough educated to be able to distinguish between accurate information and lies, whatever source these come from. That’s democracy, not ‘spreading misinformation’. No one in the UK is being accused of this, though some of the govt’s claims have turned out to be untrue, particularly on help for the self-employed and testing. I don’t rely on paper or internet sources. I have relatives and friends there! Perhaps you are suggesting that they should be locked up for five years! ‘”What is truth?” asked Pilate, but would not stay for an answer!’
In my humble opinion, the viktor does not have the time to deal with anything else now because he is working on the complete destruction of all civil and political opposition (both financially and politically), so he can set up his next move and change the present governing system of Hungary.
Next year or in 2022 when Ader’s mandate expires, he would have himself elected as the new President of Hungary for 9 years and govern as an omnipotent ruler with his band of thieves in absolute majority in the so-called Parliament.
Gyula,
Wrong ! Orbàn does find time to sneak new corruption deals under the cover of the “emergency”, eg. procurement contracts were classified for 30 years, the Chinese R&B railway was extended, the Balatonfüred cable car project, etc. The Orbàn mafia stepped up the plunder, their raison d’ètre.
Yawn, how many times have we read this over the last decade or so. The EU will do nothing and Orban knows this. He will reinstate ‘Christian democracy’ in a few months time after he has finished tweaking the pseudo constitution to entrench himself completely. Then he will claim Hungary to be the strongest and most successful ‘democracy’ in Europe. His followers will put him on an even higher pedestal and the EU will continue on, business as usual.
Hope in the EU springs eternal as it relates to believing it will do something about Orban and Fidesz. Really only the Hungarian people can liberate Hungary from Fidesz rule, it could well be as difficult as it was getting rid of Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena. It took some lives to be sure, but the rats abandoned Ceaușescu. The oligarchs and the blood suckers would without question abandon Orban if things got to that point in Hungary too. But right now that sort of uprising is not on the immediate agenda in Hungary, but if it does happen it will happen quick and take everyone by surprise, most of all Orban who keeps a helicopter juiced and ready to go I am sure just in case because Orban may be completely corrupt, but he is not a stupid man.
“The EU will do nothing and Orban knows this.”
On the contrary, round about 2025, we will get a report from the EU telling the Fat Dictator that he is a very naughty and if he doesn’t behave then they will get really angry and commission another report.
[…] Anon: Why Viktor Orbán has no time to deal with criticism […]
Methinks Orban has once again outfoxed the powers that be in the EU. I sensed the EU has learned from the US debacle it had led against Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. Let’s step back: Nixing Saddam out-o-da picture was expensive as hell for the USA and it produced way MORE problems than it saved. Ditto as far as the EU potentially maneuvering against Orban. That Orban is establishing his mini-empire within the heart of the EU is LESS of a political hardship than letting it roam free within its legal physical boundaries. All in the meanwhile the REAL value of a steady-state provided by the obedient-to-Orban Hungarian ‘masses’ provides a near-invaluable thoroughfare to the other countries nearby. The commercial value of Hungary to the EU economy is VERY substantial, not only as a thruway but as a point-of-sale location…! Stability at ANY price, including Orban’s heavy-handed methods over ‘his’ people… including the more fundamental ethical questions and problems. At this stage, even if the EU were to punish him by withdrawing EU funding of various kinds, the end result would need to satisfy both parties! Free-flow business and trade in return for the Hungarian market and space for the throughput to… Read more »
I disagree with some points.
The commercial value of Hungary to the EU economy is almost negligible, probably less that 5%.
My favourite example here are the usage instructions on products at the Lidl in 10 or even 20 languages …
And the companies would also save a lot of money if the didn’t have to translate them into that strange foreign language called Hungarian … 🙂 🙂
Anyway in the new future of cars the German automobile companies won’t need their Hungarian factories anymore.
Remember how in the 1990s there were many textile factories in Hungary? Now they’re all closed – gone to East Asia.
So for me the question also is:
How long will the average joes in Hungary tolerate the Fidesz mafia?
“We all know from history that authoritarianism can be just as contagious as the coronavirus.” It is, especially in Putin’s shadow. The koronadiktatura is spreading fast. The Romanian government used the spread of COVID-19 as an excuse to request a suspension of the European Convention on Human Rights and forgot to tell the public about it. “The Council of Europe – the institution that monitors the compliance of the treaty – spoke up after Romania, Republic of Moldova, Latvia, Estonia and Armenia activated Article 15 of the Convention, which suspends the entire Convention. The countries used the spread of the coronavirus as an excuse.” “The Helsinki Commission also criticized the fact that the Romanian public was informed about the suspension a week later by a French news agency. According to the institution, President Klaus Iohannis, PM Ludovic Orban or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should have informed the public simply because they had been demanding for weeks that Romanians should only use official sources for information about the coronavirus. The Commission also pointed out: How are other countries dealing with the introduction of a state of emergency without restricting fundamental rights, and why is Romania unable to do so?” https://transylvanianow.com/bucharest-forgot-to-inform-the-public-about-the-suspension-of-the-human-rights-convention/… Read more »
“The Romanian govt. used the spread of COVID-19 as an excuse to request a suspension of the European Convention on Human Rights’
more about this :
https://transylvanianow.com/bucharest-forgot-to-inform-the-public-about-the-suspension-of-the-human-rights-convention/
Foundation behind this site is linked to Fidesz/RMDSZ.
Too bad this “omission” of the Romanian gov.
However the quoted art. 15 allows the gov to “take measures derogating from its obligations ….to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation..” which is not a “suspension” of the whole convention.
The situation in Hu has been much worse for years, the Orbàn regime breaks the conventions and doesn’t implement the rulings of the EU organs and courts. The same goes on, more or less, inside Hu where the state/administration ignores legal obligations, dead lines, court rulings and even intimidates judges and civil organizations. But this goes with the fascist state, even if a “light” one.
Orbán’s first action after suspending elects was attacking trans rights. So when he says that he has no time to fight anything besides coronavirus, his actions show he is a liar.
Orbán has proven himself to be more Totalitarian than Horthy or the Communists. The only solution for Hungary has to be his removal.
DAY 7 OF ORBÁN’S “CORONA” DICTATORSHIP
Updated my flourish chart, showing the official* spreading of the virus in the counties [per 100.000 inhabitants]
“Koronavírus Magyarországon – megye lakosságának arányában [100.000 lakosra]”
https://app.flourish.studio/visualisation/1799004
https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/1799004/
based upon data as officially published on “koronavirus.gov.hu” [for population used latest, 2019, data from wiki]
*official depends on testing, about which many have very serious doubts, if done serious and sufficient; listen somebody trying to get very ill people tested at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWXfdllLj-Y [in Hungarian]
PS: Corona, the virus, seems to have been [almost] taken a day off yesterday…
Any news today about charges against the Tünde Szabó/Trizner-Szabó/Trizner/Vasvári hoarding/profiteering gang who appear to go in for exploitation of the coronavirus crisis to peddle face masks and hand disinfectant liquid (€25/litre, min. order 10 litres) at gouging prices? Or is profiteering still “legal” under the new decree dictatorship, just as it was under the previous “illiberal” dictatorship?
Bimbi
You’re asking the wrong question – it doesn’t matter whether crisis profiteering is illegal if the perpetrators are members of the Orbàn mafia as they are above the law. Notably even as the “parliament” is rubber stamping Orban’s will into laws in a matter of hours, no questions asked, this is not good enough for little fat bandit who wants to do exactly as he pleases ignoring his own laws as well.
A good blog entry today which covers a lot of ground (a bit like the hotels/harbours and leisure facilities that now sprawl around Lake Balaton).
The EU really does need to wake up and realize that they have a gangster embedded in their centre. Up to now he has had his way, bleeding his own people of the vast amounts of money donated by the EU and asking for more, more (IT’S OURS BY RIGHT!), his support at home ensured by the distribution of sums as necessary to ensure his entrenchment in power.
With our writer today one must ask how long the European Union will continue to tolerate the boil on its own backside?
It is time for the tumour to be starved of nourishment – the Euros that come pouring in from Brussels and are dissipated by Orbán’s relentless corruption.
There are still brave ones!
Protective equipment and COVID tests were ordered by the Semmelweis University of Medicine responsible for hospitals in Budapest for € 8.3 million. The procurement was carried out under an accelerated procurement procedure and the winning company was the same as in similar previous public procurements. Despite major purchases of masks, disinfectants and protective clothing, announced by the government, a leaked document suggests that the supplies available for healthcare workers are very limited. https://english.atlatszo.hu/2020/04/06/leaked-ministerial-instruction-raises-concerns-about-medical-supplies-in-hungarian-hospitals/
“I do not want to get into any trouble” – chilling effect in the judiciary
Judges reported a very bad atmosphere at various courts where most judges do not dare to speak openly and freely, cliques have formed and there is mistrust among judges. The interviewees mentioned that the chilling effect materializes in a fear amongst judges that prevents them from speaking up or protesting administrative decisions and pieces of legislation affecting the judiciary. The judges said that they are afraid of potential threats of disciplinary proceedings, disadvantageous case allocation, bad evaluation results, financial consequences, consequences related to family members and repercussions on professional training and development. https://www.amnesty.hu/news/2695/fraudulent-fear-rules-among-hungarian-judges
Now Orban is the supreme judge.
Istvan have you read this yet a doctor in Chicago about intubation?
Voices from the Pandemic
‘You’re basically right next to the nuclear reactor.’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/04/05/youre-basically-right-next-nuclear-reactor
I am on break right now and reading this on my cell phone. We are right now well staffed, including medical students who were just graduated about 3 weeks early in fact so legally they can help with intake. So at Stroger Hospital full tracheostomies and connection to ventilators are done by a team of four, including a respiratory therapist, anesthesiologist, surgical nurse, and a surgeon who incises the trachea through the 2nd -4th ring. This team has breathing helmets and more extensive gear from the occasional glimpse of them I get. To be honest that team is from what I have been told is incredibly quick to complete the process. That is all they do for a 13 hour shift and they are amazingly efficient, but I am not allowed beyond the door of the ICU so I have not witnessed it. Apparently there is a back up team if needed, but that team will likely not have as extensive protective gear I am guessing. Prior to that a team with a lower level of protection uses BVM ventilation, with a self-inflating bag (resuscitator bag) is attached to a non-rebreathing valve and then to a face mask. The opposite… Read more »
Zero walk in intakes right now, but there are constantly ambulances coming in, just waiting. Here is the latest data from Chicago that now includes race data https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/sites/covid/reports/Chicago%20COVID-19%20Update%20V2%204.5.2020.pdf We are in my opinion not seeing the mass acceleration New York City did, hopefully we will not.
Based on experience, and specifically that of the past 10 years, one cannot escape the facts that: 1. As far as Orban and the Fidesz led regime is concerned, no one can hope for any meaningful assistance from the EU administration and to admit to their mistakes (…would they admit?), and to change course instead of just ‘talk-festing’. 2. As to the Hungarian citizens taking matters into their own hands; forget it. Citizens of a then democratic country, who let just a few months after Orban becoming PM their Constitution taken away without a referendum, and about from the third of the population their private pension insurance funds unlawfully were taken away without a popular uprising cannot considered to be informed and intelligent people. More to the point; Orban experiencing these ‘great victories’ over his ‘subjects’ rightly concluded that he can do whatever he wishes with his subordinate ‘slaves’, and ever since he does exercise these ‘rights’… In the light of the above and after these 10 years we can safely assume that if things will change, they will change for the worse in Hungary and for the Hungarian masses. And (of course) simultaneously things are going to change for… Read more »
Orban’s much anticipated announcement at noon: Hungarian social security recipients will get an extra 1.9% raise (“one week”) in February 2021.
But only if they are still alive by then …
With food prices rising at least 10% because of the weak forint they will be very happy – or not?
This morning at the Lidl again there was no yeast – seems people are so luxury oriented that they don’t buy the cheap bread but have to bake their own luxury stuff.
Mix 100 ml wheat beer, one teaspoon of sugar, one tablespoon of flour and let it rise at room temperature for one night – this corresponds to 50g of diced yeast.
Don, thanks!
But then I’d have to drink the rest of the wheat beer – horrible idea! 🙂 🙂
As a Schwab I wouldn’t want to throw a half filled bottle away.
Yeast of course was just an example – butter was also missing (only the expensive Irish butter was available) and more products too.
And I had the impression that prices had already started to rise again …
PS and rather OT again:
In summer my wife uses a variation of your method to produce “kovazos uborka” in large glass containers.
But you do that with bread, right? This horrible drink I like … you can also make two times 50g of yeast, leaving 800ml for the mixer.
Frau Müller, today 2020.Apr.06:
“Én azt mondanám, de nem mondom, hogy…”
“I would say, but I’m not saying that…”
she was “answering” a question from 24.hu, referring to
https://24.hu/belfold/2020/04/05/new-york-times-egy-titkos-diplomaciai-tavirat-szerint-mar-hetek-ota-a-tomeges-fertozesek-fazisaban-van-magyarorszag/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/05/world/europe/victor-orban-coronavirus.html
PS: these daily pressconferences are the only currently performing theatre in Hungary, unfortunately pretty poor…
Hopefully after watching an almost full run of the entire EU pool table by Magyarorszag EU leaders will sitdown and come to the conclusion that they are living in ‘Groundhog Days’. And waltzing with Magyarorszag on the ways of democracy has proven to be dancing in just looping measures of time that just keeps going back back on itself….day after day after day. And the dance is tiring.
Maybe if the EU really thinks on who they actually are and what they really want to be they may not need to continue dealing with the always recurring hijinks which keep sapping potential EU strength. At this time they should know they will have to wait for more agreeable partner-members.
But that itself is in the hands of Magyarorszag themselves. Somebody or ‘some-bodies’ will then , if they wish to become ‘democratic’ again, will then have to show some strength. And that’s to lift a tonearm constantly playing a broken propaganda record with repeated pops clicking over and over in Magyar ‘Groundhog’ days.
The big question: Who will come to change the picture and music? It sure won’t be the groundhog. He’s busy doing his thing.
The “About Hungary” web site:
http://abouthungary.hu/news-in-brief/coronavirus-heres-the-latest/
tells me that today there are 14,325 people in “compulsory home quarantine”. Can someone please tell me what this is? Is this part of a new decree and what sort of classification is this? Are these people infected or not? And how do they get out again?
If you are sent to quarantine, e.g. if you come to Hungary from abroad, the police will check you once a day and some twice a day if you are at home. You will not be tested for covid 19, I know of a case where the son came from Germany back and lives with his parents in quarantine but mother and father do not have to stay at home. ? Totally crazy … in Siofok you have to wear masks now while shopping otherwise you will get a fine of 50000 Ft. The mayor would have said in Budapest there are many sick people because of that? Some people from Budapest come to Siofok several times a week to earn money, e.g. dental surgeons and other specialists, so there is information. People were asked to drive more with their private cars, so they don’t have to pay parking fees because the public transport is very full.
[…] la traduzione di un articolo apparso, anonimo, su Hungarian Spectrum. L’autore, un commentatore politico ungherese, fa appello all’Europa affinché prenda […]
Re: ‘History has also taught us that dictatorship, discord among nations, and the violation of internationally accepted rules and norms can cause even more calamities and deaths than the coronavirus’.
Not an economist but there’s probably an argument somewhere to be made that they apparently went missing when it came time to judge the economic effects of a pandemic. It stuns that in their macro/micro economic models they could not have foreseen the extent of great damage caused to the world’s economies and human life we see now because of pandemic. And how it could be bad enough to kill off democracy as well.
And if their models did show it they look as if they weren’t too forceful about pressing the issues or just nobody listened. If all that’s true then it is a ‘dismal science’. And that’s pretty bad since it would appear then ‘economics’ is just simply concerned about ‘inputs and outputs’. Maybe some much brighter eco minds can provide some insight since many people around the world still enjoy keeping themselves ‘free’.
I’m not an expert here but I read that Bill Gates warned several years ago (after the SARS virus) that there might be an even uglier repetition of this.
And a German study was published for everybody to read and sent to all ministries and other government institutions two years ago with similar headlines – but nobody acted on it, like having more reserves of medical supplies etc.
So for the experts something like Covid 19 was obviously just a matter of time …
OT but – This evening, Boris Johnson has been moved into intensive care.
The bellwether of herd immunity…!
I’m sure Mr. Orbán is very busy under the current circumstances but sometimes criticism (or feedback) can be useful. What about this criticism from independent opposition MP Hadházy Ákos (my translation)?
“The laws do not apply to the “National” Tobacco Stores, where the virus behaves differently. It was announced that not only do they not have to close at 15:00 (like the pharmacies and food shops), but neither do the rules about pensioners only between 9 and 12 apply to them (like non-food shops). Dohány Zrt. is proud to announce: business first!”