Why Southern Europe is Finally Outperforming Northern Europe

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For many years now, southern Europe's economies have always been looked down upon by northern Europe's. But the post-pandemic boom appears to have changed the future outlook for the southern countries; so, in this video, we're going to take a look at the history of their performance, and whether this momentum is going to last.
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1 - www.harvardmagazine.com/2013/...
2 - www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...
3 - economic-research.bnpparibas....
4 - economic-research.bnpparibas....
5 - www.france24.com/en/france/20...
6 - www.surinenglish.com/spain/th...
7 - www.reuters.com/markets/europ...
8 - www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...
9 - www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...
10 - www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...
11 - www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...
12 - www.reuters.com/world/europe/...
13 - www.euractiv.com/section/poli...
14 - www.hellenicshippingnews.com/...
15 - www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/0...
16 - www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...
00:00 - Introduction
01:06 - Context
03:18 - Why the South Europe is Suddenly Doing Better
07:19 - What's Next
07:41 - Sponsored Content

[@Joao-ki2wv]

As a Portuguese, I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we are more than tired of this "graph going up = good" bs. Things are tough here

[@ethandouro4334]

As a Brazilian, I feel for you, the same thing here. The GDP increases, but the economy never actually feels changing

[@ethandouro4334]

@@HugoRodrigues1313 Esses vídeos falam 2 verdades sem contar as consequências dessas verdades, é que nem dizer a uma criança "na volta nós compramos" em uma loja de doces, somente para voltar a loja, comprar um doce ruim e barato e dar a criança.

[@MarcPagan]

Roger that from an American of Iberian descent - GDP includes Portugal, Spain, and Greece, and perhaps Italy.....spending money they don't have. And famously, Greece cooked its books to join the Euro.

[@smishra8888]

Indian here and I agree. Fast growth rates don't necessarily translate to quality of life improvements

[@Guilherme-nc5li]

I prefer a poor country where I can actually live

[@LasVegar]

As a Norwegian calling Romania, Austria and France northern Europe feels so wrong

[@sciencefliestothemoon2305]

It is.

[@HUMBLE0BSERVER]

It is called simplification for argument sake, France is western Europe, part south, part north, Austria is central Europe and Romania is eastern Europe, obviously.

[@robertmax88]

​​​@@HUMBLE0BSERVERbut surely Romania or Austria (on the border) I would count as south in any case 😂 even if you divide the continent in half between North and South. otherwise they only count Spain, Italy and Greece as south...

[@currawongee1]

Romania is stretching it I think.

[@user-xs8vr5yr4z]

@@currawongee1 most the former social countries that are the EU now, called Eastern Europe. Despite that Bulgaria is in the south but it is still in the east. As well as Poland and Romania. Central European countries are Czechia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and possible Hungary.

[@DrGlynnWix]

I feel like this video simply reinforces how bad a metric GDP is. It says nothing about how the citizens of these countries experience daily life.

[@joschmo4497]

Because that's how it is. For past 8 years we've been hearing nothing but pretty numbers in Croatia, oh this credit score agency ranked us so high, oh we're the only one to grow, oh GDP increased by so much, ok but when can we expect it to give us higher purchasing power? Meanwhile we adopted the Euro, god knows why, for what reason did we need the Euro? It made everything artificially more expensive over night, and significantly, meanwhile the salaries haven't followed. I wish people would shut up about GDP, I don't wanna hear GDP anymore

[@gdf_6c]

​@@joschmo4497 - man how I love Croatia. Best trip I've ever made

[@arofhoof]

If this economic improvement come from the EU fund it will not even be sustainable.. just a accounting trick

[@val-schaeffer1117]

Germans with a tertiary degree, and deep into their 40s, live in pigeon hole shared apartments and ride bicycle to their work, not because they are exceptionally sustainability minded, but because they cannot afford any better.

[@HyperIndian]

Exactly. GDP per capita and the stock market is NOT the economy. Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece all have the same issue: high youth unemployment, highly qualified youth workers that leave for better pastures, a lot of old people and a lot of immigrants. The result? Angry voters.

[@veroniquemontrois289]

It has always amazed me how comfortable everyone felt calling a bunch of countries "PIGS"... 😐 Not a single sensitivity expert raising an eyebrow... Not a tolerance guru screaming abt it... When Italy was outperforming the UK economy in the 80s... Silence... When the tables turned: "hah! Get to work pigs!!! Hahahahah" When Germany and France had structural deficit compared to the sound economy of Spain in the early 2000s... again silence... respectful understanding, solidarity... As soon as the 2008 crisis affects Spain... "Hah!!! Time to stop with your siesta and get to work pigs!!! Hahahahah" Did they include Belgium (first country to falter) in the acronym? Iceland perhaps after the banking crisis? Naaah... But for a bit they included Ireland and called them PIIGS... as soon as they saw the chance they took Ireland out again to fit their weird xenophobic narrative 😐😐😐... Simply insane.

[@_d--]

honestly let them be. i live in a beautifull country full of cultural and natural beauties. i could care less of what clueless people call us. they will never live like me. love from italy ^^

[@Just_another_Euro_dude]

It's much better behaviour and much better attitudes than southern Europeans got towards the ex communist Europe. So i would say it's a bad karma that southern Europeans well deserved. Just like the fact that so many ex communist Europeans are fast catching up with southern Europe in terms of wealth. 😅 I think it's brilliant.

[@ThisGuy0903]

Indeed. I'm Italian and work in the sad and grey London in an investment team. During the macro outlook meetings, the "strategists" always use the acronym PIGS, and my heart stops a little bit every time. Funny, because the strategist saying this actually looks like a pig.

[@franz9573]

the 80s were the reason that Italy had a financial crisis 30 years later. Until the end of the 70s Italy had a low public debt ratio, about 60%, in just 10 years it grew by 50% to 110%. The governments of the 80s spent money irresponsibly, the economic boom of the 80s in Italy was artificial and left problems for future generations.

[@MrSparta79]

It should be added that the 'PIGS' does NOT include Italy! It is the designation for Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain. That said, envy is a nasty beast.. :D

[@caye_moreno]

A spaniard here. When we were having a huge crisis they were calling us "pigs" and lazy. Now, those who called us like that are the ones who are facing struggles, but they are just having a "rough time".

[@Just_another_Euro_dude]

Exactly. 😂 Mother Russia is the great leveler of things it seems! Mother Russia is all the bad karma that northerners deserved by their arrogance. Now for several years i just enjoy the party. 😅 Northern Europe in recession, Sweden with higher unemployment rate than Italy, Germany in a LONG recession, UK in recession, Netherlands in recession. 😊 While entire southern Europe growing like everything is perfectly normal. Thanks Russia. At least for that one thing.

[@electrayakamozi3395]

I am not an expert in Economics, but as a Greek i totally agree with you, this was coloristic discrimination renforcing bad stereotypes. I am sure if « cancel culture » was as prevalent as now, these remarks that were made back then, wouldn’t be allowed today

[@Just_another_Euro_dude]

And apparently they are also erasing comments that are too painfull for them.

[@carlmller4769]

There is no comparison between these recessions. Germany economy took a hit because of a war. Literally a massive disruption of European and global supply chains. Greece paied pension to dead people for 10 years... However, Never heard anyone, people or politicians call southern Europe pigs. And no one should! But let's be real, some of the problems are uncontrollable, like massive migration or weather. But bad political leadership plays a role too.

[@user-nc2qj2jc5q]

Wall street is not Main street... Same goes for Europe. The stock mkt is great but not many worker class.

[@ducasx3094]

Is this "Economic boom" you talk about with us in the room?

[@franzusgutlus54]

😂

[@SuhbanIo]

?

[@patriarch7237]

@@SuhbanIo It's a reference to psychics who claim to see the ghosts of relatives in the room during séances. In other words, the poster is suggesting that the southern economic boom isn't real...

[@claudiobornes9091]

pretty much

[@franzusgutlus54]

@@patriarch7237 I was thinking more in the direction of a psycho therapy session. Where someone who imagines people gets asked by the shrink if the imagined person is present.

[@soldatox3019]

GDP growth shows an increase of wealth, but it doesn't show how this wealth is distributed

[@pickymapping6098]

GDP Boom comes first, then the distribution

[@ChristiaanHW]

@@pickymapping6098 yeah when the 1% dies and their children inherit those billions. while the normal working population have to riot to have their salary rise at the same rate as inflation does.

[@JohnSmall314]

@@pickymapping6098 They generally never get around to the distribution part

[@Quickshot0]

You make a fair point, so how about we take a look at wealth inequality and some other metrics. - GINI index is used to track roughly how wealth is distributed instead, but looking at the data for Portugal its wealth inequality for the 2011-2022 actually went down a little. So Portugal has actually gotten less difference between the poor and rich in recent years. A good trend one can but hope continues. - Looking at GDP per capita data it stagnated for a few years but lately seems to be increasing again and is starting to get significantly higher. - Unemployment has gone from 10.1% in 2009 to 6.8% in 2023. And it's worth noting that wasn't the high point for unemployment as it actually went up to over 17% inbetween. - Government debt went from a peak of 132-%133% in 2014 to about 108% in 2023 and is predicted to potentially fall below 100% by 2025. Which would indicate public finances might be gaining a bit more maneuver room in future. - Inflation for 2024 is expected to be 3.4%, well down from the temporary high peak of 8.1% two years earlier. So overall the various trends in recent years actually are all looking better. Which makes one wonder that if Portugal can but continue on this path a few more years things might actually really be looking up a fair bit overall. Perhaps some of the unease some people are feeling is also because the last 4 years have been relatively turbulent and they might want some years of relative calm? Still of course it's possible I'm just missing some factor on the ground that is leaving people concerned. But in the various metrics I could find all trends were at least quite positive.

[@Bleilock1]

​@@pickymapping6098 when does the distribution start?

[@ribbon8677]

As an Italian, it seems that the economy is growing, but only for a very restricted amount of people. General conditions of the population are not really improving, and families are tapping into their relatively (compared to the rest of the EU) large savings to cope with inflation. If something doesn't change, we are going to have a lot more poor people around, especially younger ones who will likely expatriate.

[@zr5438]

Italy's been running on debt for a long time

[@swariiant]

As a Portuguese the only boom I’m experiencing is the cost of living lol we can’t win

[@laMoria]

Wait, you mean that the far right's economic policies benefit mainly a fringe of the population ! Totally unexpected :)

[@Mark-gd2ti]

We are looked down for living with parents but they don't understand we save money this way (because salaries are ridiculous) and then use the money to buy a house and settle later in life, a lot more northners for example live in rent basically wasting the money they could use to buy property and then they are surprised we have "savings"..... Yes only because a lot used the money for the rent to buy a house which is definitely a better strategy if you decided where to settle. Then is not necessarily the way you say, job opportunities are there now expecially in the north... The problem as always is salaries.... A young graduate software engineer makes double in the rest of Europe...... but then is not always the case, for example I wanted to leave but I decided to stay because I found a better opportunity considering cost of living here in Italy.

[@soldatox3019]

Indeed, GDP growth measures an increase of wealth, but it doesn't tell you how this wealth is distributed

[@belgian-choklate675]

As a European from Belgium calling southern european countries "pigs" feels outraging... I am shocked. Seems more english than european as a sobriquet.

[@studiocalder818]

Please, following European directives do not call a woman or a man before asking her/him how she/he likes to be called, ask yourself if the term black is better instead of dark skinned or tanned, but well, feel brilliant about using the term Pigs

[@masterjunky863]

It's so beautiful to see "As a European from", greetings from Italy 🇪🇺

[@stoicazoo7845]

Yet you did for decades, downgrading it as an "English thing" shows cowardice on your part more than anything else

[@belgian-choklate675]

@@stoicazoo7845 Given the common history between Belgium and Spain (2 centuries) the fact that a lot of Italians emigrated to our country and the fact that many Belgians have houses in Spain : I do not think so...

[@jerm184]

Exactly.

[@godtable]

The comments from people from south Europe are spot on. Like George Carlin once told, it's a big party, and we aren't in it.

[@xtian2010]

Well its the same with Ireland

[@welshed]

Leave the party then

[@danbo967]

As someone who has family in Spain I can say however that quality of life has increased quite a bit. Spaniards are just notorious complainers. People always complaint they can't spend too much money yet every night all the tapas bars are full and when you go the stadium each weekend its full.

[@mangulomanganulo7351]

​@@danbo967 As a Spaniard, I go to a restaurant once or maybe twice a month, got a decent salary and I barely have enough to save some money at the end of the month. Rent and bills take out more than half of my salary. I don't have a car. So yeah, everything's fine and booming.

[@nabiho93]

@@mangulomanganulo7351 it might be vital for you to mention what you do for a living

[@davidmurphy563]

Ok, the pigs can fly comment was genuinely good. Hats off!

[@Solid_Snake88]

😑😑😑 British dementia

[@journey-gm6sv]

​@@Solid_Snake88 you're not white enough according to germanic and anglo people 😂😂

[@pinealistaradical7412]

u probably are part of THE MASTER RACE..

[@Mark-gd2ti]

​@@Solid_Snake88 British gdp per capita ppp: 56000 Italian gdp per capita ppp: 56000 The British have done the impossible: joining us 😂 Welcome to the group. 🤗🥰🥰❤️

[@njdarda]

For the wildlings living north of the Wall, The North was actually the south.

[@mendesjosr4438]

Southern Europe has been dealing and coping with policies imposed by northern Europe without considering the South. Portugal's textile industry was decimated when the north decides to do a trade deal with China. Sugar beet priduction destroyed after a treaty with Brazil. Soft fruit production after one with the Maghreb and just before the pandemic a treaty eith Vietname was threatening rice production. Guess which countries in Europe produce rice? Abd which ones do not? Northern Europe wants to open markets around the world for their production and always and only offer southern European whole economic sectors as a sacrificial lamb for these agreements

[@marcoac-sx6lq]

Exactly. The same happened to Italy when they decided to trade with China, that could lower prices thanks to child labour.

[@alessiofe]

true, Italy was a major textile player as well. everything is gone. some brands like FILA ended up being sold to Asian companies and now they make everything with child labour somewhere in south Asia.

[@jeanjacqueslundi3502]

YUP! But if you go to countries like Netherlands, the narrative is us southern european countries are just lazy. The lack of awareness of people in richer countries as to WHY they are rich is amazing. A country like Norway without oil? Is it the same country? What about Germany post WWII without the marshall plan? Switzerland without the banking of all kinds of shady ocstumners and tax haven for many decades......I mean.........these guys have no idea how they came to be in the position their are in.

[@commenter4190]

@@jeanjacqueslundi3502 dutch are just a TAX HAVEN and a narco state, they would sell EVERYTHING just to make money! Heritage of their once calvinistic approach to life, they hate catholic countries or perceived catholic ones

[@fleximan_army]

You are right, their politics are destroying many sectors of italian economy too. I wonder about whom interest Ue works for?!

[@BleakBeek]

Those are some pretty graphics indeed for Portugal, but thats not what the population feels and it seems to me that our economy is very fragile.

[@homyce]

As a new resident of Portugal, I totally agree! I really can't comprehend how Portuguese people manage with their relatively low incomes.

[@alex_hypno]

This video is missing a lot of important data, such as Spain was the last EU country to recover their GDP prepandemic which explains its growth

[@bazookaman1353]

​@@homyceBecause of people like YOU who destroy the cost of living.

[@quasarlgq]

​@@alex_hypno Check Germany gdp in 2019. It went from 3.9 trillion to 4.4 trillion in 2023. Spain went from 1.39 trillion to 1.98. So it basically went up by the same amount, but relatively it is a massive increase for Spain and a small one for Germany. And even more so when you compare the differences in the price of living.

[@PyWPS]

If Portugal would increase the minimal salary at 5% ( or 10%) year and affordable house to local residents (outside the normal market) there would be a massive economical boom, and even the Mario Centeno (head from Bank of Portugal) said that these salary increases wouldn't put the country in a inflationary spiral

[@TheArtyninja]

Comments are much more enlightening than the video

[@stoicazoo7845]

no they aren't. They just showcase human stupidity

[@Alby_Torino]

So many stupid stereotypes about Italy... Productivity has always been high, and it's higher than Germany and France....

[@lucadesanctis563]

Northeners hv to be racists to justify their shitty air and food

[@leonardomazzone3499]

That is factually incorrect. It's not a stereotype if it's based on figures from ISTAT and Eurostat

[@Simon-.-]

no stereotypes here, just reality….

[@Mark-gd2ti]

I am an Italian but you are factually wrong.

[@dxelson]

Go visit Portugal and see if the local people are living well

[@TiagoMendes0]

just don't have the money to buy a house, or even rent it, but a house is just a detail 😅

[@MrKostkapotocki]

people are not doing well because they are lazy, stupid and self destroying. This is very common all over the world. It is independent of culture religion and nationality. And they tend to overspend.

[@martimsousa864]

​@@MrKostkapotockiya is easy to talk when you have money

[@SonnyDarvishzadeh]

The term here is "rate". Rate does not equal absolute wealth.

[@ricardomartins1783]

@@TiagoMendes0 Looking in detail, Portugal home ownership of about 80%...

[@azatooth1]

The GDP might be growing well, but I can assure that most people don't feel like that. At least this is in Italy

[@user-is4eh1ur3s]

and Greece

[@KavkhanIsbul]

I understand the sentiment. But this is literally what people always say. We tend to attribute improvements in our wellbeing to our own prudence, and decreases - to "the state", "the economy", etc.

[@thorstenboy8574]

Also in spain...life quality here is fare away from middle or northern europe

[@andrecidueye1701]

Italiano anch'io. Personally I think, at least in our case, this won't last long. Apart from some infrastructure investments, we will be completely dissolving the 80bn recovery plan in meaningless, give-some-money-to-my-friend policies (source: we're Italians and the current government has a solid parliamentary majority. It ALWAYS happens at all levels in all public entities, except maybe the military, we are the Country of clientelism and vote trading)

[@Blkhole02]

Source: trust me bro

[@juantrevisiol5737]

That is bias. Italy had a lower deficit than Germany from 1991 to 2007. Spain deficit and public debt was lower than France before 2007. Same woth Ireland

[@nettcologne9186]

During the period you mention, Germany was dealing with the costs of reunification, but never had a debt ratio above 80%. Labor market reforms in the early 2000s ultimately reduced the high unemployment rate and, due to some rather unique methods such as "Kurzarbeit", hardly anyone had to be laid off during the 2008 financial crisis. Germany survived the financial crisis almost unscathed. And today Germany also only has a 60% debt ratio and gas prices are at the same level as in 2019, despite the pandemic and no more Russian gas imports. The fact that Germany is not growing this year has something to do with the weak economies of its sales markets, which means that Germany's economy is changing again, which is in times of wars (Ukraine), endangered shipping routes (routes around Africa, instead of the Suez Canal) or protectionism (USA) not easy.

[@juantrevisiol5737]

@nettcologne9186 true. Italy had a high debt ratio because of all the money it spend with the south. But the thing is that they weren't PIGS with high deficits. The crisis started on the private side. Even Greece that had a big deficit, its problem was only fixed when Draghi said "Whatever it takes" and not with the multiple failed austerity measures.

[@danielefabbro822]

You mean that Germany have a public debt bigger than 23.000 billions of Euro? Cool. And, my condolences for the Germans, since our debt, while being big, it's 3/4 hold by Italians.

[@nettcologne9186]

@@danielefabbro822 That's not 23,000.00 billion euros, but 2,445.40 billion euros. That's a good thing if Italy owes its debts primarily to Italians in the country. Nevertheless, the debt ratio of 138% does not meet the 60% mark that was once set. A prerequisite for Germany to accept the euro at all.

[@danielefabbro822]

@@nettcologne9186 it's 134% right now. It's decreasing a lot these days. Didn't you noticed? By the way the debt it's not something negative. It shows for example the amount of investments of a country. Of course it's not all related to that voice but... It's significative. And after all Italy is putting out a lot of efforts that other countries like Germany don't do. Or at least don't match.

[@StufffTV]

Portuguese guy here, as the Italian guy mentioned and i agree, the economic indicators indeed indicate that the economy is recovering but that the thing is we don't feel it. For example, work in AI, I have a Bachelors in Applied Statistics, Masters in Data Science. My gross monthly first wage was around 1250 euros + some others expenses totalling around 1350 gross. I received around 1100 euros per month. Now think of how privileged I am to be working in this sector, with these studies completed just to earn this fucking piece of shit wage. This is just to say that 75% OF PEOPLE BETWEEN 18-35 IN PORTUGAL EARN LESS THAN 1000 EUROS NET. This country is cooked, i don't think this is the only one, just the beggining of a slow colapse in all our societies, but yeah don't expect governments to help you that would be my advice, try to get other sources of income, the governments will end up fucking you. Immigrating at the beginning of 2025

[@vicmilbert]

Where do you want to go to? Greetings

[@TheBooban]

Same story literally everywhere in the west. They keep telling us we having it so good. I live in Sweden and it sucks. Don’t come here.

[@fdhgbjsk]

It's very simple. GDP grows by 3%, inflation grows by 6%, people are in a net negative position in purchasing power of -3%. So whilst growth looks good, it just shows how poor the position of countries like the UK, with GDP growth -1%, inflation growth 5%, are actually in. So, comparatively Southern Europe is doing better, but, when being compared to a big pile of shit, a smaller pile of shit isn't very impressive in practice.

[@TheBooban]

@@fdhgbjsk you are missing that GDP isn’t evenly distributed. All that growth went to very few. The rich are isolated from inflation as their investments and properties just charge more and pull in more profit. For the rest of us our prices increased far more than our wage did.

[@riclnun]

I live in Sweden (Stockholm) since 2019 and is almost the same thing here.

[@gabrielrfg4852]

Speaking from the Portuguese POV: We are NOT in an economic boom, we are in the midst of a housing crysis propping up the economy and living through very harsh austerity measures. Our lives have never been as bad or as expensive in the last 30 years. Our National Health System was never this broken, our public schools were never struggling this much. We're now faced with political instability and a growing inequality and migration crysis, all the young people are leaving or already left and nobody is having kids. If this "economic boom" keeps going you might be looking at a poverty crysis and complete destruction of the social fabric of Porrtugal. Do not romanticise this destruction.

[@fantastiskchow8830]

Sadly that’s how the modern economy looks at things, numbers….

[@SuperKingofcastle]

"economic boom" is temporary foreign investment (incl taxes). It's unlikely to last.

[@bendover-bz4bc]

Migration crisis? Migrants are the only people ready to pick up your farms with less than minimum wage salary You should be thankful to them. Your daily vegetables would have gotten more expensive if it wasn't for desperate immigrants working below minimum wage

[@mustachiog]

Exactly👏

[@konstantinosd5101]

As a Greek I totally feel the same as you do! Citizens are being led to extreme poverty.

[@euroschmau]

This year will feature my fourth vacation to Spain since 2021. Spain has it all and is well deserving of my tourist dollars.

[@cornagojar]

LOL, Portugal is always depicted as some sort of powerhouse, but when I talk with my portuguese friends living there, they talk about a very different scenario (cost of living rising more than wages etc...)

[@santostv.]

The economy (gdp) doesn’t represent the average citizen, just like most other countries, our country is filled with low paying jobs even with a college degree you get paid sh*t, migrants are coming to push salaries from rising, we sold our country to tourism and expats like how they like to be called but the blame is our government

[@Ferreira0504]

It's mostly about housing. There are so many people from richer countries buying up property, and there's not nearly enough housing being built, public or private, to balance that.

[@reiudfgq3vrh34ur]

​@@Ferreira0504if it was just housing it would be minimal. We have a security crisis,education crisis and health crisis lol do u even live here???

[@bazookaman1353]

Portuguese here, and I can confirm too.

[@Mark-gd2ti]

Guy even Americans say that 😂😂

[@gesilsampaioamarantesegund6692]

Portuguese people suffered the effect of lots of rich foreigns buying property and increasing the cost of life there. It is a separate case.

[@gregggreggen9828]

It's mostly elderly northern europeans buying and retiring. That's basically a free money-farm for Portugal. Money coming in from elsewhere, put into the Portuguese economy. How is that a bad thing? Nobody buys anything here in Sweden, we have terrible weather and we now have one of the highest unemployment rates in the EU, no economic growth and surging crime in the form of gang-violence.

[@Balinux756]

@@gregggreggen9828 It's a bad thing because Portuguese people can't afford housing ourselves. This makes it extremely hard to raise families and this is murdering our population growth. Your gang problem is something that can be easily resolved politically. Use your voting power.

[@davethebarbarian4419]

Portuguese people have also suffered from the influx of "new Portuguese people" buying all the property that people like us can actually afford.

[@gesilsampaioamarantesegund6692]

It causes gentrification. There is no way to let it adjust itself.

[@pmmeurcatpics]

I love how everyone has seemingly forgotten that building houses is a thing. If you don't have enough houses, maybe just build some more?

[@stefanoslan]

People Always talk shit about Italy but forget it's still the 7th worlds largest economy and the third world largest gold deposit owner. Cry more baby

[@jezuschrystus5113]

Looking at the comments it's mostly Italians talking shit about Italy

[@St0rrrm]

according to IMF forecast you will be number 9 in 2024 and brazil will pass you. Cry more baby

[@SunilDachmann-mg7mm]

You know the Italian north is really rich right?

[@CapofigoGamingChannel]

It's nothing compared to central and northern europe, still poorer

[@SunilDachmann-mg7mm]

Nope wrong northern Italy is,when you compare it in wealth equal to central and Northern Europe (do your research next time to not spread misinformation)

[@dark0rock]

The acromym was in fact PIIGS with one I for Italy and another one for Ireland.

[@barbarbarabar9097]

But Ireland became rich in the 90s.

[@llucllumador380]

​@@barbarbarabar9097 Pigs is an acronym from the 2008 crisis

[@sledgehog1]

@@barbarbarabar9097 Rich? GDP and HDI are two very different measures...

[@Abs123.]

@@llucllumador380 No it isn´t, the term originated in the 1990s and included Ireland. In the time of political correctness and woke culture it seems you can use derogatory and racist terms only if you're talking about certain people.

[@davidmmm]

Now, Ireland is in a different league-the tax haven league-essentially diverting money from Europe

[@jsparrow2563]

The so called countries PIGS doesn't include Italy but Ireland, as it was the first EU-State which got bailed out. PIIGS as a risk-factor for the whole of the Eurozone does include Italy. Italy never got any bail-out...please get your facts right

[@jsparrow2563]

PS I'm German and not Italian

[@AlexanderSixtyFour]

​@@jsparrow2563 the problem here is that they are brits

[@MrSparta79]

Exactly.

[@lucadesanctis563]

Brits being racist. Nothing new

[@Menelvagorothar]

I don't think we can conclude that austerity was a main reason for this rebound (if we can call it that). If this were true, we would have experienced it long before. The main reason is surely the cut off of cheap Russian gas that was giving the German economy a hidden competitive advantage over most of the south. Then the COVID recovery fund, which is the first attempt to adress the problem of the missing fiscal capacity of the EU, which according to many economists is the main reason why the Eurozone crisis was as bad as it was. Austerity was largely seen as a northern imposition on the south, which was the consequence of the stringent refusal by the frugals to allow any common fiscal capacity (and thus common borrowing). Austerity and fiscal union are two extremes on the policy response range to the Eurozone crisis.

[@Anonymous-sb9rr]

Austerity has no immediate benefits, only future benefits and immediate drawbacks. So it's not true that you would have experienced it long before. It's normal that you only start to see results after many years.

[@Mark-gd2ti]

​@@Anonymous-sb9rrthe entire theory behind austerity was based on a study full of dumb errors. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@mendesjosr4438]

Portugal only started regrowing when PSD was replaced by PS which started gradualy stopping the austerity measures imposed immediately after the crisis

[@gennarodivincenzo3560]

German antinuclearism played its role.

[@TheShadowOfZama]

@@Mark-gd2ti Giving more money to people clearly not managing their finances well isn't exactly a clever idea either.

[@user-qx9bt9tr6t]

How is Italy's economy looked down upon by Northern European nations? They seem to have done and been doing quite well, demographic crisis aside. I am not European so help me understand this. A bunch of high-valued global companies and many present in my country are Italian.

[@spaniardsrmoors6817]

Exactly, it's all BS, Italy is a top 10 economy, military, trading nation, wealthiest citizens in the WORLD and should never be in the same conversation as the other 3.

[@user-qx9bt9tr6t]

@@spaniardsrmoors6817 Calling a group of nations by pejorative terms as "PIGS" sounds like a very feel-good type of regressive thought process, may they be performing well or not economically. And Spain too performs well enough economically, no matter what that Snapchat CEO said few years ago. Portugal too has a high-income economy and high-valued agricultural products and Greece has turned its fate around recently and has a great maritime fleet. All these nations are much better off economically than mine, so if they are being called "PIGS", I can only hope what they call us.

[@charliesargent6225]

@@user-qx9bt9tr6t Correct... in individuals worth Above USD $50M.. #7...just below India that has 25X the pop. Italy also top 10 in ultra wealth individuals, # 10.

[@user-qx9bt9tr6t]

@@charliesargent6225 India is at 5 actually and Italy at 9 from the 2024 numbers I looked up for GDP nominal. And, yes at around 1/25th the population. But what I care for more is that Italy has a GDP (PPP) per capita at rank 30 and very high HDI at 0.906 which is a very quick improvement from the last two years when it was at 0.889 as it is difficult to improve when you are already very good. Another thing I note are the world-famous Italian luxury car and fashion/accessories' brands as well as defense and navy/submarine design and manufacturing companies. And given France is in "Northern Europe" and sitting at 0.910 HDI now, at least the French really can't look down on Italy in any logical way as some "less-developed" nation.

[@foxyboiiyt3332]

Its much easier to increase all the good numbers when you start from a very low base. Increasing Germanys GDP by 2% is far harder than 2% of Portugal for example

[@TemplarX2]

True. French and German economies are more developed.

[@Polygarden]

Agree. Many people seem to forget that you can't compare the GDP growth percentages 1:1. Portugal would have to grow roughly 31% to match the same total value of economic growth. So as comparison, even if the growth is just 2% in Germany or France, they are essentially growing in size of the entirety of Portugal by total value within 3 years.

[@TemplarX2]

@@Polygarden I mean per capita is more meaningful but Portugal is still lagging far behind.

[@ChristiaanHW]

exactly, it's also known as the Brexit effect (at least it should be) die hard brexiteers like to trow around the "huge economic growth" since COVID, but they forget the even bigger downfall before.

[@Mark-gd2ti]

It's way more difficult to increase your economy with enormous debt, high taxes and decreasing population like Italy....

[@BOZ_11]

2% for Greece is nothing when you realise their GDP shrank like 30% after the bank crisis

[@franciscoabreu4893]

The drop was linear, the gowth is exponential. That's why 2% is a lot.

[@BOZ_11]

@@franciscoabreu4893 Inflation adjusted (i.e. real) GDP is down 24% from Q2 2007 to today. That's pretty sh1t

[@franciscoabreu4893]

@@BOZ_11 I'm not denying it's a huge decline, I'm just explaining why 2% is a huemge increase

[@BOZ_11]

​@@franciscoabreu4893 I just explained in real terms that it's not! Adiós man.

[@shishkashahid5293]

I'm soryy but northern europe? Da'hell. Maybe you ment central? Since claiming that everything apart from Portugale, Spain, Italy and Greece is northern Europe is blatantly wrong.

[@SamFromItalia]

If you draw a line through Switzerland, everything below that line is generally "southern Europe" and everything above is "northern Europe" Of course there are more precise ways of explaining regions but this is just a news video it ain't that big of a deal.

[@Just_another_Euro_dude]

Yeah, he even talks about the France like a northern European economy. 😂 France is a country whose entire south is hard core Mediterranean. Nice, Monaco, Marseille, etc. France is half western European, half SOUTHERN European. How many people even realise that southern France is southern Europe?!

[@Mark-gd2ti]

Romania the shining example of northern Europe 😊

[@SamFromItalia]

@@Mark-gd2ti Romania is a shining example of what hell may look like

[@Fuhrerjehova]

They mean Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria. With France and Belgium being a bit unclear.

[@Carlos-wv3yj]

Imo the advance of southern European economy has to be with energy. I´m from Barcelona and literally yesterday the energy price was free for all Spain, it's mad. The advances in renewable energies in Spain is mind-blowing. Maybe there are other factors but I have notice that Spain is starting a massive reindustralization.

[@Dyanowen]

As a Dutch living in Spain, I think we need to stop trying to measure success or what works well with North European standards. The north and the south of Europe are two very different worlds. In so many ways.

[@alessiofe]

yeah we're no tax heaven

[@ro3583]

@@alessiofeexactly

[@commenter4190]

at least the south european countries are NOT TAX HAVENS like the netherlands who takes each year dozens of billions euro from ALL the other countries (including Italy) due to fiscal dumping, and yet always here the dutch to speak about how they are good and how the south "lives on dutch money" (while Italy alone is a NET CONTRIBUTOR since decades to eu budget, at least 15 billions euro each year and the so-called recovery fund is just a little alms considering the italians themselves if they pay taxes would have over 100 billions euro each year)

[@da7433]

Up untill 1500, 1600s southern Europe was always richer and economically stronger. Things are just returning to normal, nature is renewing itself. 😅

[@intersezioni]

The economy of Italy is a highly developed social market economy.[28] It is the third-largest national economy in the European Union, the second-largest manufacturing industry in Europe (7th-largest in the world),[29] the 8th-largest economy in the world by nominal GDP, and the 12th-largest by GDP (PPP). Italy is a founding member of the European Union, the Eurozone, the OECD, the G7 and the G20;[30] it is the eighth-largest exporter in the world, with $611 billion exported in 2021. Its closest trade ties are with the other countries of the European Union, with whom it conducts about 59% of its total trade. The largest trading partners, in order of market share in exports, are Germany (12.5%), France (10.3%), the United States (9%), Spain (5.2%), the United Kingdom (5.2%) and Switzerland (4.6%).[31] In the post-World War II period, Italy saw a transformation from an agricultural-based economy which had been severely affected by the consequences of the World Wars, into one of the world's most advanced nations,[32] and a leading country in world trade and exports. According to the Human Development Index, the country enjoys a very high standard of living. According to The Economist, Italy has the world's 8th highest quality of life.[33] Italy owns the world's third-largest gold reserve,[34] and is the third-largest net contributor to the budget of the European Union. Furthermore, the advanced country private wealth is one of the largest in the world.[35] In terms of private wealth, Italy ranks second, after Hong Kong, in private wealth to GDP ratio. Italy is the world's seventh-largest manufacturing country,[36] characterised by a smaller number of global multinational corporations than other economies of comparable size and many dynamic small and medium-sized enterprises, notoriously clustered in several industrial districts, which are the backbone of the Italian industry. Italy is a large manufacturer[37] and exporter[38] of a significant variety of products. Its products include machinery, vehicles, pharmaceuticals, furniture, food and clothing.[39] Italy has a significant trade surplus. The country is also well known for its influential and innovative business economic sector, an industrious and competitive agricultural sector (Italy is the world's largest wine producer),[40] and manufacturers of creatively designed, high-quality products: including automobiles, ships, home appliances, and designer clothing. Italy is the largest hub for luxury goods in Europe and the third luxury hub globally.[41][42] Italy has a strong cooperative sector, with the largest share of the population (4.5%) employed by a cooperative in the EU.[43]

[@spaniardsrmoors6817]

Exactly, and read my stats above...Italy is as rich as any country in Europe except Germany, top 10 in the WORLD, yet they continue to connect it with the other southern laggards who are much poorer.

[@toccandocreacanaleulterior176]

​@@spaniardsrmoors6817stats don't really represent daily life tho

[@spaniardsrmoors6817]

@@toccandocreacanaleulterior176 Oh no, what does then? Why are stats the cornerstone of any economy, society? There will always be the leaders and the laggards in every country.

[@toccandocreacanaleulterior176]

@@spaniardsrmoors6817 except when the "laggards" consist of majority of the population

[@spaniardsrmoors6817]

@@toccandocreacanaleulterior176 Exactly, which excludes Italy.

[@pedromoura1446]

i dont think this point is made enough.... the EU funds ARE MADE FOR THAT. they're the only reason most southern countries even agreed the euro being made as a carbon copy of the german mark... without those funds the southern countries would be simply slaves to the northern ones in the eurozone so the "billions of EU funds" are a way to help southern countries invest and push their economies to the same level of the german so EU could have internal economic homogeny... and even then the southern economies investing HARD has benefited nothern ones through preferencial consumption of their goods over those external to the EU and Northern Europe has been syphoning that money back over and over every time it's invested reinforcing their own economy. Besides...if a country like germany drops below the EU average the southern countries are OBLIGATED to do the same and lift them up. it's beneficial to both sides otherwise they wouldnt even lend it in the first place!

[@jonayz8655]

You are spot on, but in my opinion the European funds are a misserable conpensation for having renounced to our factories, and food production here in the south. I'd rather have more factories and productive economy than European funds that don't compensate anything and are a source of corruption.

[@Ferreira0504]

The data is excellent for Portugal is great, but housing is so unaffordable hardly anyone with a Portuguese salary can live. There are so many people from richer countries buying up property in mass in our cities especially, and there's not nearly enough housing being built, public or private, to balance that out.

[@notanobviouschoice]

Sounds like you’ve got the standard operating for all Northern European nations. Welcome to the miserable club. At least you’re not Russia’s money cleaners like my damn country (England)

[@ricardomadleno564]

Uhh in Lisbon yes but thats about to change well like around a year from now I mean

[@vinih732]

​@@ricardomadleno564could you explain, pls?

[@ricardomadleno564]

@@vinih732 I don’t have the patience to explain but here is some of it. Also foreigners are now forced to ou the same taxes as Portuguese which for the last 5-8 years they have payed half which brought a lot of foreigners spend on housing in Portugal lifting up the prices. But this was already done the ones I sent you are going to be done by the new elected governments Portugal let’s just say they are tackling the biggest complain Portuguese have which is in fact hosing especially in areas such as Lisbon and Porto full of foreigners. Don’t know if you speak Portuguese or not but You can Always translate it on an app.

[@vinih732]

@@ricardomadleno564 sim, eu falo português. Eu vou pesquisar mais sobre esse assunto, obrigado. Eu moro no Brasil, a família do meu pai tem origem portuguesa, portanto tenho dupla cidadania. Somente atualmente tenho começado a me inteirar nas notícias de Portugal. Talvez retorne a Portugal para morar, eventualmente.

[@rmmvw]

Spain, Greece and Portugal benefited greatly from COVID travel restrictions easing and people having that itch to visit, as well as having their digital nomad visa; foreigners who are economically viable to live in their country for multiple years by working remotely. Italy just created their own version of it last week, which could be a great boon for the economy, but terrible for the housing supply. Having just recovered from over construction of housing from the market crash of '09, it will be interesting to see what these countries will do to help alleviate the housing affordability crisis that is affecting all.

[@bazookaman1353]

I'm Portuguese and the "digital nomad visa" is actually a huge problem. The foreigners destroy the cost of living and now in Lisbon an apparently costs 80% of the average salary. What's the point of a country having wealth if its people never see it?

[@tiagofreitas1976]

@@bazookaman1353 "What's the point of a country having wealth if its people never see it?" mmmm... that reminds me of the growth statistics of the fascist regime, great growth wiht al the wealth going to a couple of fammilies and 99% of the population on starvation wages. yet today idiots all around Portugal sing the praises of salazars economic policies forgeting that ZERO of that wealth actually went to the population. these iditots usually parade themsenlves online with nationalistic symbols like .. for example the cross of christ and... WHAT A MINUTE!!!!

[@rmmvw]

@@bazookaman1353 well.. as what this video speaks about is GDP, since it's the only measure that's important. I also agree that the state needs to do better for its people such as doing loans for small businesses like they used to, but the state has gotten selfish and wants to take from tax payers and give too much to the non contributors. A good balance creates a good society.

[@Joey-ct8bm]

Italy got 200 billion from the COVID relief fund that Northern Europe paid. They would be starving on the street without Northern Europe, Greece too in the housing crisis. Spain and Portugal have a pipelines to Africa for energy, that's why they are doing better with growth. Lisbon has the highest house prices of Europe by the way, while their gdp per capita is very low. Only the very rich live there and is now just a city full of expats. 2000 Euro rent apartments with a average salary of €1,463 a month in Portugal.

[@Mark-gd2ti]

I don't think there is such a big problem with housing in Italy, the prices were higher in the past. Only some cities like Milan have this problem.

[@Superfluous.]

And yet, in Portugal, I still live a life full of anxiety about the ever approaching day where I'll have to choose between rent and meals, let alone dreaming of ever owning my own house unless I end up marrying someone or sharing living costs with other people and never having a place that I can fully call my own. Economy and the GDP can grow all it wants, but that still doesn't change the fact that I'm working ~50h a week just to barely make the cut, much like more than half our entire population at this point, all while public services are on the brink of collapse. Working this much just to survive and so GDP can grow and give everyone the false illusion that everything is getting better? And people wonder why productivity is low.

[@K4nguru090]

tamos fodidos amigo

[@undead9999]

Italian here. This video should be used as a reason why only economists should speak about economics. The GDP growth metric is fallacious, simply because a GDP growth thanks to very niche sectors of the economy (such as, in the case of Italy, Leonardo, which is an aerospace company manufacturing aircraft parts and other high end, highly technological assets) does not reflect how the economy is doing on a wider scale. The "real economy" so to speak, isn't nearly as florid.

[@riccardogalli1923]

OK, this video is completely misleading in regards to the Italian economic status. Some example. The greatest auto manufacturer is closing a lot o factories to delocalize them in other countries, Hundreds of people might lose their job, the "superbonus 110%", a policy that aimed to boost the Italian economy by financing the house building firms with public moneys failed completely, drugged the economy and left a gigant debt weight that won't permit us to satisfy the pil/deficit ratio imposed in the new EU stability pact, the debt from the superbonus also limited our capacity of public spending for the nation health service that is collapsing. Add low fertility, unproductivity and a government not interested in economic development that protects powerful lobbies like taxi drivers and holders of sea touristic facilities, that pay a ridiculous low amount of taxes. Well you have found the perfect recipe for decline.

[@Mark-gd2ti]

Gdp per capita Italy 2024 39000 dollars 56000 dollars in ppp 2019 33000 dollars 46000 dollars in ppp UK now Gdp per capita ppp: 56000 dollars.... The same as Italy... (obviously higher if you consider higher cost of livings but that's not what matters for the avarage dude that matters for "economic power" ) All imf and world bank data

[@mercurio7424]

You’re prolly the only Italian believing what medias saying, low fertility ahahahahahah, in fact you’re prolly not even Italian greatest auto manufacturers closing, Italy, still at top of auto manufacturing? Where do you think the woke word is coming to study auto engineering? Italy, in fact t You misspelled Mercedes I think 😂

[@intersezioni]

As far as Italy is concerned, excluding economic crises made in the USA, Covid wars outside the EU and speculation, the public accounts have been in order since the 90s, with positive budget surpluses and positive exports for billions of euros, figures that the countries Northern Europeans can only dream. The public debt was created in the 80s and is only growing due to speculation and crises outside Italy! Italy is the eighth economy in the world, the seventh industrial power on the planet and the second in Europe after Germany!

[@aliceg6745]

Of course, the Italian economy is ahead of the French economy and the British economy... 😂 Honestly, stop talking nonsense and look on the internet. Thanks. And fortunately, you did not say that it was ahead of the German economy. Phew! 😂

[@intersezioni]

@@aliceg6745 I'll leave you this link from the International Economic Institute of Vienna, so you can't say it's biased because it comes from Italy, but it's data that you can find in any world economy forum. in the meantime these data have improved because the Italian economy has exploded 6. Italy remains the second most important industrial country in the EU It may sound surprising to northern-European ears but, despite weak productivity growth and problems with price competitiveness within the euro area, Italy has important economic strengths. The 60 million Italians do not live primarily from tourism. Italy is still the second most important industrial location in the EU (which would be true even if the United Kingdom were still part of the EU), mainly due to the economic structure in the north of the country. The country has the second highest industrial production after Germany and exports significantly more industrial goods than it imports. By far the most important export sector is mechanical engineering, which alone accounts for almost one fifth of goods exports - followed by vehicle construction and pharmaceutical products. The order is almost identical to Germany's export structure and these sectors rank under "medium-high-tech" to "high-tech" industries in the OECD’s classification. The historically grown industrial structure of (Northern) Italy is just one example of the great economic potential of our southern EU partner country. If austerity policies and market-liberal reforms have failed to move the country forward over the past decades, then the obvious thing to do is to try an investment strategy - for which the use of money from the EU recovery fund could provide a first impetus - and give Italy's industry a boost by launching a modern European industrial strategy.

[@spaniardsrmoors6817]

@@aliceg6745 Honestly? Try it sometimes...read the TRUE economy stats in my comment just above...as rich as any country in Europe except Germany, top 10 economy AND wealthiest citizens in the WORLD, not just Europe.

[@spaniardsrmoors6817]

@@aliceg6745 The richest in Europe in savings and one of the highest in home ownership, have 4X less debt per household than the Dutch, 8th in the world in household net worth, 4th in Europe, 7th in the world in National Wealth, In terms of private wealth, Italy ranks #2 after Hong Kong in private wealth to GDP ratio Italy has the world's 8th highest quality of life 8th largest exporter in the world World's seventh-largest manufacturing country 3rd in total NET contributions to the EU Italy: #10 ...in Ultra High Net Worth Individuals Above USD $50M.. #7...just below India that has 25X the pop. Number of Millionaires by country: #7... In REAL wage growth, not skewered by exchange rates...between 2017 & 2018 in increased millionaires... #1 Gold reserves... #3 (from official eu statistics):industrial production by country Germany recorded the highest value of sold production, equivalent to 29 % of the EU total, followed by Italy (18 %), France (12 %), Spain (9 %), Poland (5 %) and the Netherlands (3%). The other 21 EU Member States contributed with smaller shares (up to 3 %).14 lug 2021 NET CONTRIBUTOR to the EU budget since DECADES and each years gives 14 bn euro to the EU budget, receiving far less. This money go to Poland, Hungary, Spain and rd NET other poor countries in EU. Italy has a private wealth that is up to 11 trillions dollars, so even if she "goes bankrupt" for her debt (which is 166% of the GDP although most in Italian hands, Japan has 270% debt and America also over 130% and ALL THESE COUNTRIES ARE TOO BIG TO FAIL, Italians have the money TO BUY ALL THE DEBT! The regions (and autonomous provinces) of northern Italy have the following GDP per capita (2019): Alto Adige/Südtirol 48.1k, Lombardy 39.7k, Trentino 38.8k, Aosta Valley 38.8k, Emilia-Romagna 36.7k, Veneto 33.7k, Liguria 32.3k, Friuli-Venezia Giulia 31.9k, Piedmont 31.7k. Comparable with the GDP per capita (2019) of Germany: Saxony 31.4k, Schleswig-Holstein 33.7k, Rhineland-Palatinate 35.4k, Saarland 36.6k, Lower Saxony 38.4k, North Rhine-Westphalia 39.6k, Berlin 41.9k, Hesse 46.9k. Better than Saxony (31k), Thuringia (29k), Brandenburg (29k), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (29k), Saxony-Anhalt (28.8k). Less than Baden-Württemberg (47.3k), Bavaria (48.3k), Bremen (49.2k), Hamburg (66.8k). Italy’s poorest region in the south Calabria has an average salary about equal to Spain’s richest, Madrid. According to the German institute Stiftung Markwirtschaft, in 2018, the aggregate explicit debt + implicit debt of Italy is 122%, lower than the German one at 170%.

[@Civil-Rights]

What is Bulgaria doing in Northern Europe at 1:21? Did it get lost on the way to the store?

[@simonedylan6581]

Italy never get bailout by anyone

[@swariiant]

Well it isn’t “trickling down” as they say

[@polalonso7875]

As a Spaniard that recently moved to Germany to work and have a better life -- no, our economy is shit, our wages are shit and it´s even cheaper to live in Germany than in Spain. Inflation and incompetent politicians (people are responsible of that) ruin everything and every time i get back to Spain, I am reafirmed that I took the best decision. My friends are each day poorer and poorer, with lower hope of improving.

[@idraote]

Let's not forget that Italy has been running a budget surplus for decades now. Decades. It's the horrible burden of the gynormous previously acquired debt that it's dragging the general budget down.

[@_d--]

italy is kept on its knees by the other european countries since the fall of the roman empire really... no one wants a stable italy with its strategic geopolitical position. hence the modern speculation on its debt

[@Seikengaming07]

I live in portugal. The number look great, but that's all they do. They "look" great

[@edsova5089]

7:19 reminds me of the Cartmanland where Cartman kicks everyone out of his theme park and lets everyone in, so nationwide, businesses start using his "you can't come" strategy

[@newdelphi1883]

Germany better get ready to tighten their belts and comply with austerity measures dictated to them by responsible economies.

[@alessiofe]

nah the EU works this way: France and Germany impose rules and standards, if anyone else break them they insult and force it to get back on track no matter the cost, if they happen to break them they simply change the rule/standard.

[@matteo3351]

Meloni didn’t diversify gas supply, Mario Draghi did

[@doniv7926]

As a Greek, It's so sad that I'm reading comments from our fellows southern Europeans friends describing that econonic growth it's not real. In fact it's more difficult at the end of the month to have some money left for anything. We measure everything we purchase, even 0.01€. And this brings us anger.. Things are also tough here.😢

[@badseed86]

There is a difference between boom and recovery

[@youxkio]

@TLDRnewsEU you forgot to mention that during austerity in the Iberian Peninsula, there were also huge investments in renewables that mitigate energy imports, such as Portugal which stopped importing coal for its energy industry and closed one of its last coal-powered plants. Reducing energy imports weighs in the balance of payments, promoting governmental savings. Until the last decade, energy was the highest import weight in the Portuguese balance of payments.

[@rubenmarquez4992]

The economy is increasing, yes, but I cannot notice in the street, we cannot buy a house, because the prices and the interests are too high and the price of everything (especially food) are 30% higher than before, but the salaries does not increase in the same way.

[@McLarry88]

Before entering the EU, Spain had no debt, it had the most powerful agricultural and fishing sector in Europe. It also had industries such as blast furnaces. It was the 9th economic power in the world, now it is the 15th, its per capita income was more equal with the countries of Europe. Convergence with Europe is getting worse since it joined the EU. Upon entering the EU everything was dismantled, it became a country of tourism and we have a debt of 150% of GDP. Great business for Spain to enter the EU.

[@nate.v.l]

Please do a video on the migration pact 🙏

[@namelesssomebody2557]

Hahaha 😂 Never. It would mean acknowledging the Polish immigration policy is correct. 😂

[@soundscape26]

​@@namelesssomebody2557Was the pact approved similar to the Polish immigration laws?

[@soccerguy325]

@@namelesssomebody2557 Imma need a source for that please (spoiler: I'm not gonna get one).

[@attackxxx]

You got outpigged

[@Bocherz]

I mean has a Portuguese it makes sense for the GDP boom to happen, since we got like a 30% income tax, just people living here are not doing so great

[@user-ng8fk8vn7q]

When you say (1:27) that "southern European countries racked up some pretty significant debt" in the early years of the euro, you elide the fact, iirc, that _in_ Spain, it was not the government but the construction and real estate industry that racked up the debt, and that the government took on debt to save the banks thus endangered.

[@Josec823]

To be precise, the government took the debt of the public saving banks that had been mismanaged by boards made of politicians of all parties, including present president Sánchez. No private banks were rescued in Spain.

[@cazzi1929]

I think this is clutching at straws really. Growth has been concentrated in certain areas, which almost always, following the longer term trend, means further degraded long-term growth.

[@brunomadeira8432]

Portugal (and I believe the same applies to Spain, Italy and possibly Greece) is an historical loser of the Euro (of course there are other benefits but here talking strictly about GDP) and globalization. Burdened by a too strong currency and a market design that doesn't help their particular economies. Even unable to use low cost energy imports due to mostly French blocks on pipeline development. The post pandemic expansion (GDP are always presented as variations...), the current deglobalization climate and the fact that together with Spain we had to prepare decades ago for high cost energy imports all seem to provide a somewhat favourable situation. And inflation provides a psychological help for salaries moderation which helps stimulate growth (which leads to many feeling what the heck is this talk about growth all about?).

[@diogorodrigues747]

That's a really simplified vision of reality. Portugal and Italy indeed suffered right after they entered in the Euro, but that's not a problem of the currency but a problem of Portuguese+Italian policymakers doing nothing to change the situation while even knowing the consequences of doing zero. That's the reason why both countries entered a period of economic stagnation already in the early 2000s. Spain and Greece are different, and Spain actually was benefitted by the Euro in the begining - there was an economic boom in the early 2000s, with a big increase in general productivity and wages. Spain was also a big beneficiary of the tech revolution, with companies such as Telefónica and Motorola at some point dominating the mobile phone industry worldwide. Then the 2008 financial crash happened and Spain entered an economic swamp. Rajoy back then decided to invest a sh*tton of money into infrastructure projects and that's why Spain ended up being close to bankrupcy around 2012-2013. With Greece it's different because their economy previous to the debt crisis was basically fake. The numbers were just speculation due to high debt borrowing, ghost companies and high levels of corruption. Once this was discovered, the bubble bursted out and people started to suffer a lot. Of course Syriza blamed the EU on the "strong austerity measures" but they wouldn't be needed if Greek politicians actually didn't do loads of sh*t before.

[@marcoac-sx6lq]

@diogorodrigues747 there was not much to be done in Italy. Joining the Euro destroyed the competitive andavtages it had based its economy on. On the other side, not joining it would have meant competing with China and its child labour prices. I call it an infavourable economic circumstance, from which hopefully we will finally recover soon or later

[@diogorodrigues747]

@@marcoac-sx6lq Of course they could have done something in Italy, that's just nonsense. For example, why didn't Italy change their economic system and policies, if they knew this would happen? Your politicians are the blame, and you are as responsible for what happened as them because you, after all, voted for those same people.

[@foregone_roulette]

Greece was only a historical loser of the Euro because they took "loans" to mean "free money" and lived unsustainably for the better part of 3 decades. Austerity had to happen, but I understand the resentment Greeks must feel for their wealthy and the older generation for mortgaging their future so they could live above their means.

[@marcoac-sx6lq]

@diogorodrigues747 you live in the world of dreams. No country, expecially a highely developed one as Italy, can instantly update and pivot its value chains, businesses, regulations, networks. To rebuild a country you need decades, not months, and it's not even granted that you'll manage to do it since there will be many new competitors. You're also wrong regarding the fact we voted always the same people. In the last decades we've voted for anything in the political spectrum. Keep sleeping bro you are very misinformed

[@aromanian-socialist]

in greece actually peoples lives get worse only some rich greeks are getting more wealthy the average greek right now is in a really bad situation we do really hate our goverment

[@mariosvos7323]

Greeks dont hate their government. You do. You are not all Greeks. Current government wins all elections one after the other. Seems that Greeks love their current government.

[@BrtsD]

@@mariosvos7323yes we hate it. stfu

[@vadergrd]

1.more tourism 2. now remote work . but like germany is like 2 countries glued , so is italy , north and south

[@cameronwixcey9692]

All countries are multiple smaller ones glued together by 1 all conquering one. The Uk is perhaps the most open example. England used to be 7 countries until the Vikings and Wessex narrowed it to 1. Germany was many until Prussia united them.

[@odoacredacalcutta5085]

does this channel get money from the lobbies that sustain Meloni ? Again, the thumbnail is misleading, making it look like Italy's very modest GDP increase depends on her administration, but this is really far, far away from the truth. While it's obviously true that Italy suffered less than Germany from the gas price increase due to the war in Ukraine, this is not a merit of Meloni, like the video stated. Those contracts with Algeria and Qatar were already built up by Draghi's government. They were simply renewed. And, more important, the "austerity" Italy's supposedly benefitting from is already a memory. Deficit under Meloni is already skyrocketing, and big amount of stocks of the few italian public companies that are profitable (fe Poste Italiane, Leonardo and Finmeccanica) are getting sold to cover for it. In short, Meloni is simply harvesting the fruits seeded by the previous government, while quickly squandering them into inproductive spending that won't produce long term growth. There's hardly one measure put up by this incompetent administration that addresses Italy's real problems. Its focus is mostly consolidating consensus and power, by kicking away people from public TV that criticize them (not even openly but even subtedly), despite being those who are loved and as such very profitable for the state. Just to give you an idea, the first law this government introduced was aimed at suppressing unathorized parties in the countryside (known as 'raves'). Just to give you an idea of their sense of priorities, lol.

[@franz9573]

the reason for the problems was the "Compromesso Storico" from then on it was all downhill with Italy, italians knows what I'm talking about. The compromise in the past between the Christian Democrats (center-right) and the Communists (left, but not comparable to the Communists of the Soviet Union). And then the socialists of the 80s. and when I look at the 5 star idiots, I prefer not to say anything about them, they are completely ignorant. But it's not much better on the right, which is why I haven't voted in Italy for almost 12 years.

[@oakefaloskavliaris]

I'm from southern Europe (Greece)...I don't feel like we're outperforming anyone, wages are as low as ever, prices in even basic goods have skyrocketed, unemployment, especially in young ages is rampant, people are getting more and more miserable, working (those few lucky enough to have a job that is) 12 hr daily-shifts for 4-5 euros/hour without overtime/benefits, without insurance, without days-off etc... they don't have kids/start families anymore because they don't even have the basic means to sustain themselves or pay the bills, let alone children, resulting in a population-crisis... so, I don't know wtf is this guy talking about. Maybe some ''creative'' mathematics-statistics projecting ''economic-growth'' on paper, while in real life everything sucks

[@Simon-rc5sf]

A growing GDP doesn't mean a high GDP, which again wouldn't mean a high median income, which again wouldn't mean a high median wealth, as wealth needs to be accumulated over years. Thus, GDP growth isn't reflecting a living standard by definition. Moreover, rising prices automatically generate a rising GDP, which doesn't improve purchasing power at all. One has to be very careful how to interprete these metrics.

[@ricardoantunes503]

Where is this famous Portuguese boom? I have no idea, the standart of living is becoming worse and worse, inflation in food and houses prices is crazy. Its way cheaper in relatives term to live in Germany....

[@cameronwixcey9692]

In the pockets of the 0.1% same as everywhere else.

[@97Corvi]

0:53 Monteriggioni !!! A really wonderfull place here in Toscany !!! 🤩🤩🤩

[@sergiosastrecascon6002]

France frugal??? 😂😂😂

[@Booz2010]

Slava BAGUETTEs 🥖

[@TrevorAndSky]

I don’t know guys… take it from an Italian: we’re not doing so well after all… sure, gdp is performing better than other EU countries but mainly because we were less dependent on Russian oil in the first place, and also because some deficit-soaring measures just ballooned the gdp all the while increasing Deficit by a lot (Italy is projected to face a 7.4% deficit this year, the highest of all EU members…). Which means that the “increased GDP” has nothing to do with fiscal conservativeness, and is also just a balloon (I watched a previous video from this channel talking about Italy’s incredibly high gdp in the eighties: it was just a fluke and this is the same…). If you tell me that inflation has been better I may believe you but trust me it doesn’t feel that way. But the most important thing is this one: even if Italy really was on a path to lowering the deficit and increasing the gdp (which I doubt), this means almost nothing! GDP is an economical index that is completely detached from the reality we all live in as working people! They tell you that the deficit is coming to a halt but what they don’t tell you is that the only reason that is happening is that the state is under founding tremendously the healthcare system, or it’s waving white flag on price control, which just means that the state is losing significance. Like “look,we’re spending less! I mean we’re only paying our politicians at this point and the state is doing nothing else other than bending over to private corporate oligarchs interests, but hey! Spending less is good am I right?.?” This is not sustainable. (I’m not even gonna talk about the non-liberal pseudo-fascist politics that italys government is putting in place, which by itself should be a big enough reason to throw these “”fiscal conservatives”” out of Italy).

[@carlosmanuelsaint-felixgar4068]

Including Spain in any economical discussion makes this channel lose credibility. One of the reasons for the Portuguese growth it’s because Spain sucks, a lot of companies have moved here from Spain, because they keep having a huge fiscal deficit, and for the most part Spain will keep raising its nominal and debt percentage, because unlike Portugal is a country that every time is less and less attractive for business and one of the reasons for their “recovery” is because only in 2023 they saw a real recovery of their tourism industry. Portugal’s main issue is housing prices in big cities and that’s still very centralized, second is in terms of infrastructure, but they learned that they can’t spend more that they have whereas Spain will inevitably collapse because they have an anti business government

[@marcocarlson1693]

I think what you are saying is that it is a quite Socialist country. In my lifetime, it always has been. They have A Ton of 'Hidden Debt' from Government 'Social' spending that indeed could collapse them in the not very distant future. They will need to make severe cuts in social spending to have any hope of avoiding this outcome. Hopefully they do, because otherwise.....

[@sorin_channel]

Wait. Romania is doing well? Whaaaa

[@chrimbus71]

Maybe Romanians can move back to their country now then. 😂

[@qwertyqwerty-zi6dr]

@sorin_channel we're not doing well, we just didn't screw it up as badly as others😂

[@mfitzy100]

Tourism has played a huge part alongside more flexible working. These have boomed post covid as they are fantastic countries to live in vs the dreary north

[@Anonymous-sb9rr]

Yup, bunch of expats in Spain driving up the GDP.

[@Joey-ct8bm]

Italy and Greece got billions from Northern Europe. They would be living on the street without Northern Europe. Spain and Portugal have a pipeline from Africa for energy, that's why they aren't as affected as Northern Europe. Portugal now has a terrible inequality problem. Rents in Lisbon are around 2000 Euro's and the average salary is €1,463 a month. It's a country full of expats. That's definitely gonna blow up in their faces.

[@commenter4190]

@@Joey-ct8bm Italy is the 3rd eu economy with over 2200 billion dollars GDP, 8th in the world and 2nd INDUSTRIAL manifacturer of Europe, she does NOT live on tourism (about 8% of her gdp) and would not need the alms of the so-called recovery fund as in tax dodging alone over 100 billions euro EACH YEAR are not paid by the italians in taxes!

[@mfitzy100]

@@commenter4190that’s true Italy especially as a fantastic industrial base just desperate politics

[@JiffyCakes]

I was in Portugal last year, beautiful country, beautiful people. Just don't look at incomes and house prices. I was slightly shocked to hear students coughing up like €600 in Coimbra for shared accommodation. Looking at current prices, it seems to be around €3k / sq mtr to purchase a flat. For a median salary of €30k / yr that's about 7-10 years of no-expense income to purchase a 80 sq mtr flat.

[@davidgarridoecunha7102]

Portugal lived for 50 years with a regime that was obsessed with low public spending and high budget surpluses. That did not translate into development and wealth quite the opposite.

[@6TypoS9]

Does this mean I can finally head Back to Portugal and expect a proper salary for once on my life? Or must I keep working in The Northern Lands so to avoid Receiving a humiliating salary?

[@kek1247]

dont come back.

[@thedude7319]

Just using GDP is worthless, always show GDI with it

[@pincermovement72]

And living costs , housing , food and fuel.

[@sakis6464]

All these years Germany was making profit from reselling Russian gas , now the game is equal, it's so simple ❤

[@Vindex80]

They are (overall) economies dependent on services and tourism, low added value industries requiring mostly unqualified workers thus sensible to economic crisis due to the little complexity replacing new, unskilled workers and with longer duration periods of crisis therefore. This said, the last 2020 crisis and the restrictions to travel hurt these economies harder than their northern counterparts and this "growth" you are talking about is just the "rebound" of the pre pandemic levels, years behind northern economies. This is an allegory of a cycling race where cyclists behind are faster on flat ground than the cyclists slowly climbing the mountain slowly ahead. On top of that, all this "growth" is sustained on public debt while it lasts. Sheer decadence of Europe.

[@Vindex80]

(I am a Spaniard who left Spain and will never look back myself)

[@commenter4190]

Italy is the 3rd eu economy with over 2200 billion dollars GDP, 8th in the world and 2nd INDUSTRIAL manifacturer of Europe, she does NOT live on tourism (about 8% of her gdp) and would not need the alms of the so-called recovery fund as in tax dodging alone over 100 billions euro EACH YEAR are not paid by the italians in taxes!

[@Vindex80]

@@commenter4190 Tourism accounts for 12% of the Spanish GDP. Higher taxes for taxpayers in Spain and everybody knows Italy is absolutely indebted, even more than Spain. I do not want to argue and I'm happy you are a real patriot but Spain was the 8th world economy in 2008, not that long ago, today the 16th and going under. I do not see what exactly is to be proud about

[@oldstyleman3819]

Northern Italy is one of the richest and industrialized zone in Europe (in the blu banana zone). Milan is in the core of Europe... Comparing Italy, as a whole, to Greece or Portugal is ridicolous.

[@domenicoorlando481]

Hahaha another delusional Milanese

[@domenicoorlando481]

Hahaha another delusional Milanese

[@franz9573]

unfortunately there are 2 countries within Italy, every kilometer further south it gets worse, but this is also due to the prime ministers of the past from the north (most of them) who only saw the south as cheap labor. Far too little investment in infrastructure. a lot of money was spent but completely wrongly, money was spent just to get votes (gifts and corruption). the south itself is also to blame (although I am not from the extreme south (Abruzzo), but I am already counted as part of the Mezzogiorno). The mentality has to change in the south, many people think the state has to regulate everything and that's wrong, you have to do something yourself. The north, especially Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia Romagna and Trentino are comparable to the rich German regions of Bavaria, Baden Württemberg and Hesse, lots of industry, functioning infrastructure, good education. Southern Italy has a lot of potential, it just needs to be exploited and the people there need to develop more initiative. Not even tourism is exploited enough in the south, there is simply a lack of infrastructure. 4/5 of international tourists visit the north and Center not the south and that is a shame. The city of Milan has more tourists than Sardinia or Sicily. 10 million southern Italians left their homeland after the Second World War, 6 million headed for North Italy an 4 millions abroad.

[@aetherion7]

and that same difference goes for Greece as well, not just for Italy, if you knew anything, and still both whole Italy and Greece are in the category "Southern Europe".

[@miguellopes7627]

Here in Portugal, our former Prime Minister once talked about how our economy was growing faster than Germany, and leaving aside the fact that a big growth rate of our small economy is nothing when compared with a small growth rate of Germany's huge economy

[@santostv.]

It’s like how the uk was bragging about higher growth than the eu but before they were left in the dust, same gos for our country is smoke in mirrors, only the 1% and homeowners are benefiting from this growth

[@tiagofreitas1976]

that reminds of the armies of idiots that think that salazar was great because the growth rates of the fascist regime were higher than todays, forgeting that 5 % of one euro is way less than 2% of one thousand euros... smaller economies tend to grow at faster rates and slow down as they get bigger.

[@BenoitXVIII]

C'est le sens de l'Histoire. En Europe, la civilisation et la créativité vient du sud et spécialement d'Italie, depuis des siècles.

[@jakubblaha4904]

Fall in southern productivity is less of a "less" and more of central/eastern europe "rise". You can be be as productive as 15years ago, but if others catch up, the overall average goes up, making you fall.

[@doktorcool3740]

This is actually a goal of the EU: to lift up countries with lower economies, so instead of saying that the more wealthy countries did bad, it's much more true to say that the EU succeeded (a bit) in levelling the economic power of its poorer countries and that those countries did well (be it because of EU pushing or be it because they improved on their own). Also, unsurprisingly, it's much easier to grow fast if you're starting from a quite low level. If I give an extra 1000€ to somebody earning 10000€, it's a 10% increase, whereas it's only a 5% increase to somebody earning 20000€.

[@binky777]

Germany, england and Sweden destroyed their own economy with aweful incompetent decisions. So instead of lifting up others, they lowered themselves to shit. True socialism at work.

[@NightSt0rm]

Indeed, a lot EU money (that mainly comes from economically sucessful countries) goes to these countries. The arrogance that I now sometimes see from some people coming from southern countries is a joke.

[@maten146]

​@@NightSt0rmItaly gives 3 billion more than they receive from the EU. Your comment is a lie.

[@pritapp788]

@@NightSt0rm Italy's economy was doing better before getting integrated further with the EU, then began to flatline from the 2000s. As for arrogance, the Northern Europeans and French are the worst for it - not even close.

[@reno.zed1]

​@NightSt0rm Italy is one of the biggest net contributor of the EU budget. Portugal and Greece are so small that the mess northern countries have made about their past difficulties are pathetic. You call us arrogant? My gosh mate 😂😂😂😂

[@PLuMUK54]

It sounded as if everything in the garden was rosy for the south, that through hard work and sound financial management, they were outperforming the north. Then, the true fact came out. The improvements in the south were the result of huge inputs of EU funding. Why do several of the graphics not match the script?

[@UAuaUAuaUA]

It is all on percentages and if someone bothers to look at actual numbers it looks differently. The gap between per capita GDP in Norway and Greece is as big as the distance between the two 😊

[@Just_another_Euro_dude]

But the median wealth difference between Germany and Greece is smaller than anyone would expect. 😊 And Portugal is ahead of Germany and Austria by the median wealth per adult citizen. While Italy and Spain are completely different dimension compared to Germany and Austria by the median wealth per adult citizen. It's like 107 000 dollars in Italy, median wealth per adult citizen and 65 000 in Germany. It's more than 70 000 in Portugal and 55 000 in Greece. So, in the range of Germany and Austria. Norway is a country that found oil and gas reserves. Not representative. Look at Sweden with higher unemployment rate than Italy now.

[@SpectreMk2]

You didn't mention that having access to the Mediterranean sea gives your country proper cooking. This rules of thumbs have never failed me in Europe.

[@zoso68zep]

PIIGS: PORTUGAL IRELAND ITALY GREECE AND SPAIN

[@swariiant]

Why include Ireland? Genuine question

[@aar8808]

It used to be part of it, but not anymore because of improved economy.

[@Benito-lr8mz]

Curioulsy xenophobe the quality of life is superior for exemple in Spain over France or U.K s.t.u...i.d😂

[@nntflow7058]

Ireland is not located in the south of Europe kiddo.

[@marcoac-sx6lq]

​@swariiant Ireland had bad economy, but improved by becoming a tax heaven.

[@juantrevisiol5737]

This video is full of inaccuracies. How can you conclude that austerity has worked 13 later due to mild growth rates? Spain has received very little of what was promised of its eu recovery fund, italy is complaning about it as well

[@ivayola]

Bulgaria, Albania and former Yugoslavia countries should be considered also as south European economies ;-)

[@antoniopags1185]

Great graphics for Portugal but me and my friends had to leave due to housing prices and low wages.. you should show the purchasing power graphs. I would love to see a reaction to that.

[@kanavaro2010]

GDP is an inadequate measure of an economy's health. For example, the U.S. artificially inflates its GDP through frequent cycles of money printing and borrowing trillions of dollars every 60 to 90 days. This method can misrepresent the true economic situation.

[@Mark-gd2ti]

The USA can do that because of the internal privilege of the dollar.

[@MrSparta79]

The 'PIGS' does NOT include Italy. It is the designation for Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain. From an article in the Encyclopaedia Britannica: ".. the so-called “PIGS” (Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and Spain) .. Italy’s outstanding public debt amounted to more than that of the four PIGS combined, causing some economists to label the country as “too big to fail”. I would like to remind all these low-grade journalists that Italy's GDP is equal to all the GDPs of Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain (i.e. the PIGS) combined. Italy is one of the richest and most important countries in the world (in truth for some 2,500 years), part of the G8 system, and unlike the UK (which has a chronically negative trade balance) it remains an ultra-industrialised country, surpassed in the EU only by Germany, and has for decades had a very positive trade balance (one of the few countries in the world). Countries like Italy and Germany have the best prospects in the EU. The economy of countries like England, for example, compared to countries like Italy looks more and more like that of a corrupt Third World.

[@hits_different]

It’s not an internal competition tho, as an Italian I think it would be beneficial to everyone if the potential of the southern countries translated into real growth. Spain is rapidly becoming and international hub, while Italy has finally seen some development after 20 years of stagnation

[@peacem8574]

Portugal is going to be catastrophic. The salaries are the some of the lowest in europe,while the costs are not even adapted to the salaries,but rather the same or even worse compared to the rich countries. The young people are all leaving the country, nobody is having kids and soon there will be only old people. You pretty much get taxed everywhere. The highways are absolutely overpriced and oh boy the education. It's way easier to find a job than apply for college, you must do exams for a very limited amount of available places and you pay up to 200€ for each candidature.

[@AlexanderSixtyFour]

Italy, the 2nd largest manufacturer in Europe, one of the biggest net contributor to EU budget and G7 member from 1975, considered like Spain and Greece as "less productive" make me laugh.

[@marcocarlson1693]

It's not 'just' a member of the G7 either. It's a Top member. So yes, of course, laughable.

[@marcoac-sx6lq]

Spain is more advanced than Italy on many aspects.

[@commenter4190]

@@marcoac-sx6lq Italy is the 3rd eu economy with over 2200 billion dollars GDP, 8th in the world and 2nd INDUSTRIAL manifacturer of Europe, she does NOT live on tourism (about 8% of her gdp) and would not need the alms of the so-called recovery fund as in tax dodging alone over 100 billions euro EACH YEAR are not paid by the italians in taxes!

[@francisdrake7060]

​@@marcoac-sx6lq Spaniard spotted 😂

[@marcoac-sx6lq]

@commenter4190 most per capita data are similar to Spain. But Spain is 20 years ahead for quality of life, cities organization and infrastructure.

[@PyWPS]

Yesterday saw a video on VisualEconomik Spanish channel with some calculations that indicate that Spain GDP growth has been mainly due to tourism and that actual industrial growth was -7.5% (? if I recall), PIGS maybe flying, and good that they are flying, but if Germany (and northern Europe ) is not OK when WE ALL will have problems.

[@tomasmoura8387]

We live with a salary 4 times lower than yours at an equal cost of living. You Will be ok.

[@francisdrake7060]

Visual Ekonomic is the worst channel in YT

[@Garcwyn]

Visual Economik. Not visual at all with a production that couldn’t be worse including the presenters with yellow teeth. And economik right, give me a break. They don’t have an effing clue.

[@carlobasilone3133]

It was actually PIIGS with 2 I's and the original I was for Ireland, The other I was later added for Italy, although as much as their economy suffered they were never as bad as the other 4 but far worse than the Northern Europeans,

[@commenter4190]

ireland economy is just inflated due to being a TAX HAVEN for no taxes, american multinationals, otherwise ireland would be as poor as in 1840, escaping starvation for lack of potatoes