Update on the Economy

The Economy is pretty much in shambles! I don't want to elaborate too much, because people will fall asleep, but the only reason the Hungarian Economy ONLY loosing 2.5% of it's value as of now yr/yr is because the Agriculture sector has experienced a miraculous 72% growth from last year. And we were doing so good up to Q3 2008, our economy was finally recovering from the reforms...and then it got punched in the face...

On the happier side CPI inflation came out to be at 3.0% yr/yr..which is a very healthy rate. That's the only good news in economy these days.

Clean air

I am going to copy this article off of the www.pestiside.hu website. Credit given to them. February 26th:

Budapest Racks Up Both Clean and Filthy City Awards

According to a report from our friends at Hungary Around the Clock, Budapest won the dirtiest city "award" in an online poll followed by overpolluted regulars from the Hungarian rust-belt Ózd and Miskolc. This of course comes only a day or so after the EU recognized Bufapest for its efforts to fight pollution through educating citizens and other means, such as (we're guessing) the decision to only allow half of the cars into the city on smog filled days. And judging from the picture, it's been working, as you can almost make out what that circular bright thing in the sky is!

Financial advise, BUY FORINTS

The economy STINKS in central Europe just as much as it does here. All of the CE currencies are plummeting. My advice? Buy! There is no way that, the forint will stay this cheap! Historically speaking the forint has been as cheap as 290 forints for a US dollar back in the early 2000s, but that was back in the stone age. We have hit a new era, and I, as an expert in economics (I wish), would be very surprised to see it go above 250. What does this mean? You buy 2000 dollars worth forints, you will ideally get 465 000 forints... You wait 1 year for the forint to gain back it's "natural"~195 value and you cash in! You return around 2400 dollars and profit a quick 400 dollars! A quick 20% increase in your money in just one year! Not bad...Except I forgot to mention that we don't live in an ideal world. Even IF the forint gains its value back and hits 195 from its current 232, you will only be able to buy at the "buy value" which will be about 10 forints lower than the current 232, 222. You will also only be able to sell at the sell value, which'll be 10 forints higher than 195, 205... Oh , and I forgot about commission in both transfers, which is at about 2%. So I'll do the math so you don't have to.. ::COUNTS IN HEAD!:: now you've gained 80 bucks in a year... Oups.. I forgot to account for inflation....Even during these horrible economic times, they are at about 2.5% a year.. So in real value you've only gained 30 bucks.. Plus you probably had to drive to the bank and back, which with gas consumption will take off another 5 bucks; pay a bank fee at the American bank of 10 dollars per exchange... So now we are at what, 5 dollars? You've probably put in about 30 minutes of work and 15 minutes figuring this out, meaning that's another 5 dollars minimum wage. You've come out even! WOW, my advice, BUY FORINTS! It serves you better than any other stock!

Pécs 2010

Pécs's mayor died of cancer a couple of days ago. The reason this is weird is because the last mayor died in a car crash, and the one before that died as well (I believe... I might stand corrected on the 3rd one). Mayors in Pécs are not very lucky. Especially since they have less than a year and a half to build a European cultural capital. The city is behind with nearly every project. Pécs, a city with a metropolitan population of around 250 thousand, was chosen for the 2010 cultural capital. An interesting characteristic of Pécs is that it encompasses a lot of Turkish architecture due to its history of the ottoman empire leading over it. It is a gorgeous city with a lot of culture, just wish the projects would get done.. I would become mayor, but then I'd probably die.Just one plan out of the hundreds...The plans for the Corso Hall:


The sight under construction:

I haven't posted in forever--time to change

I've just been lazy not caring, but there is always something to post so I'll continue.

Back in the Ol' country news updates:

-New statistics show that 20% of couples are infertile and the number is growing.. Large portion of them don't turn to doctors. (caboodle)

-A large portion of the government's shortfall in taxes this year is resulting from people switching over to a lower alcoholic percentage beer, that consequently falls in a lower tax bracket. (index)

- A bus split apart......


That's all for now, more later..

1956

Tomorrow, October 23rd, we celebrate our 52nd anniversary of the 1956 revolution. We remember our uprising and loss of thousands of lives for our brief independence. We remember being lied to that the soviets were moving out, just to be hammered and have thousands more killed. We remember falsely believing that someone from the outside will actually help us. We remember our complete failure, yet we remember all this with a certain pride. What we did was something no one could imagine at that time. We, even if for just a brief period, beat the soviets. We became independent. We worked together, the farmers provided food, the police provided ammo, the doctors service, and for no money--but for independence. And this revolution should unite us and not seperate us. Here are some pictures to help us remember:

Is Hungary Iceland?

A lot of analysts have been comparing the economic crisis in Iceland as to what will happen in Hungary. As Andras Simor said on CNBC, the only two things Hungary and Iceland have in common are that both are mid-small sized countries in area, and both have tons of thermal water.. Let's take a closer look.

-Iceland population: 300 000 Hungary's Population: 10 000 000... That means we are 35 times their size.

-Iceland GDP: 10 billion USD; Hungary GDP: near 200 billion

-Hungary is a member of the European Union.. Iceland is not...

-Hungary has a trade surplus, Iceland does not.

-Hungary's export (besides porn): Cars (Audi, Mercedes, Suzuki, GM, etc...); electronics (HP, Phillips, IBM); wheat;

-Iceland's export: Fish

-Iceland's short term debt is 1700% of their GDP (wow), Hungary's bellow 100%.

Yeh not the same