Malta’s Debt – The Ostrich Approach to Economics

Right, let’s address the genius argument I keep hearing: “You’ve been telling us about this doom and gloom since March 2013. But it never materialised!!!!!”

Yes, well done. You’ve spotted that the sky hasn’t fallen yet 

That’s not proof of economic brilliance, that’s proof you’ve got the observational skills of a goldfish.

Debt isn’t a thunderstorm. It doesn’t arrive with a crash of lightning and a loud bang over Castille. It creeps. It lingers. It builds up quietly in the background, like cholesterol in your arteries, until one day, bang, heart attack. And you’ll be sat there, wide-eyed, saying, “But I thought pastizzi were fine, I’ve been eating them since 2013, and I’m still standing.”

What we’ve got here is the economic version of that. Successive governments dishing out freebies, cheques, handouts, subsidies, anything to buy a smile, a vote, or at the very least a Facebook “like”. And where does the money come from? Not from a magical tree sprouting €50 notes in Castille’s courtyard, that’s for sure. It’s borrowed. It’s shoved on the national credit card with the enthusiasm of a drunk tourist on his last night in Paceville.

Now, people say, “But the country is still standing.” True. But so was Greece in 2008. So was Argentina in 1999. A country doesn’t collapse overnight like a bad soufflé. It decays. The cracks form slowly. Inflation creeps in, taxes go up, services collapse, and one day you realise your children are paying off the interest on the freebie cheque you clapped for ten years ago.

And here’s the part the “it never materialised” brigade don’t want to hear: debt is silent until it isn’t. Like a dodgy turbo in a second-hand car, it works fine… right up to the moment it explodes, taking the rest of the engine with it.

So when you laugh off warnings, all you’re really saying is, “I prefer to live in denial because it makes me feel better.” Fine, carry on. Stick your head in the sand, pretend the numbers don’t exist, clap when you get another €60 “cost-of-living” cheque. But don’t come crying when the bill lands on the table, because it will, and it won’t be you paying it. It’ll be your kids.

This isn’t doom and gloom, it’s maths. And you can mock it all you like, but numbers don’t care about your feelings or your political colours. They just add up.