Hungary's economy has many shortcomings. The country's purchasing power parity (PPP) calculated GDP is in the ballpark of Denmark, Israel, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. However, the country population is larger, so GDP per capita (PPP) doesn't look so good. Upset by the inefficiencies of some services on a hazy morning sometime in 2001, I posed the billion dollar question to myself: What if things didn't suck so much for a change? What would happen, if suddenly the inefficiencies were eliminated... what if corruption, stupidity, apathy, dishonesty and bullshitting stopped tomorrow, and everybody started working diligently and decently? Would Hungary suddenly catch up with the US? Could Hungary follow the path of the East Asian Tigers as the "Pannon Puma"? What if the Land of Promises, the Country Without Consequences, Alegria and Absurdistan were all left behind?



Most likely there would be extremely positive changes. But, as you are undoubtedly gathering, the anomaly is systemic: for a radical internally driven overhaul, you would need to change the whole system... from people's everyday relations and mindsets, through established structures of society, to governance and regulations. And in reality, such internally driven changes will only happen very slowly. To boost Hungary's economy into a lean, mean, efficient citizen pleasing profit making machine, some well-informed, financially-backed external pressures would need to be applied.

(Just for reference: Singapore)

It is nice to see economic growth. When a new building is built, when your environment is improving, when you buy something new, it's all reassuring proof that your work is worth doing, your efforts will pay, and generally the world is a fair playground. Growth is the norm: from the US through France and Germany to India, China, South Korea and Japan. Even if the country is only developing, you can be sure that the future will be brighter and better.


(charts made using Human Development Report 2005, via Gapminder)

Well... greetings from Central Europe! Heightened expectations disappeared soon after Hungary's 1989 revolution, when people learned the hard way that changing to a functioning democracy and market economy won't happen overnight. Per capita GDP melted to 1980 levels by '93, and it took until 1999 to reach '89 levels again.



The situation was similar in other Central European countries (like Poland, Czech Republic, or Croatia). Decay of the urban environment, inefficiency, and services getting worse by the day are not exactly morale boosters. Although these economies are growing 2-3 times faster than "old Europe" (like France or Germany) in recent years, the experiences of the 90s recession period are not forgotten. People's perception of the world is a distinctly Central European mentality. They tend to be cautious about the future: they save money in the bank, and avoid buying on credit. They don't like to take financial risks: a job at a multinational company is preferred to starting your own business. The norm is not the expectation of progress and growth, but preparing for an unchanging situation and potential hard times. And this is only a recent addition to a historically negative national self-image. The Hungarian anthem is not a song about a hopeful future, but a plea for less hard times, reciting the crushing forces of various foreign armies throughout centuries past. Another telling example of this "hoping for the best but expecting the worst" outlook is Budapest native (and Intel founder) Andy Grove's book title: "Only the Paranoid Survive". This mentality is simultaneously the source of our greatest weakness, and our greatest strength.

Central Europe is not unique in having undergone a period of contraction of the economy, and I feel solidarity towards troubled developing countries like Mexico. Underprivileged people of highly developed countries are the first to feel the effects of problems with their counry's economy, so I also feel solidarity towards the struggles of young people living in housing projects in the US or in the French banlieues.

Altalaban a finanszirozassal kapcsolatos erdekesseg (legalabbis nekem az volt), hogy par ember, akivel beszeltem, azt mondta, hogy az egyetemi computer science tamogatasa/helyzete erezhetoen rosszabb az USA-ban mostanaban, ami annak tudhato be, hogy a kutatas ilyen szempontbol par evvel a piac mogott halad, es a dotcom crash mostanra erezteti a hatasat. Nem tudom, hogy ez Mo.-n hogy mukodik, de valoszinuleg az eredendoen kisebb lufi es a folyamatos 3-4%-os GDP novekedes miatt joval kisebb tenyezo. Mindenesetre ez is elosegitheti az indiai es kinai hallgatok Mo.-ra csalogatasat, kulonosen ha aztan europai diplomat kapnak...