Yesterday we celebrated Malta’s 53rd anniversary of its independence from Britain. This event is an important milestone for any country. It has enabled us to take charge of our destiny and to take our rightful place among the world’s nations.
It has also enabled us to take all subsequent decisions starting from becoming a republic to joining the European Union and subsequently joining the eurozone.
It is obviously not surprising at all that Malta has changed in a most significant way since September 21, 1964; more so its economy. We have changed from an economy that was entirely dependent on Britain’s military base and related activities, to a diversified economy with a resilient manufacturing sector, a modern services sector and a booming tourism sector.
Even during the worst times for our economy – and we have had these especially in the first half of the 1980s – we managed to keep our head above water, even if we were swimming in murky waters.
What has characterised our economy in all its facets over these 53 years is its hospitability. We have been hospitable not only to the millions of tourists that have visited our islands but also hospitable to foreign investment in the various economic sectors.
There are various reasons why as individuals we need to live within our own economic means
In an international economic environment that has become globalised, it is difficult to imagine that a country becomes economically independent. In fact the more advanced economies are all highly dependent on each other. Can anyone image a strong US economy if American businesses did not sell their products and their technology to China? Or can anyone imagine a strong German economy outside the context of the European Union?
Thus thinking of having an economically independent Malta is a non-starter. We have actually benefitted from the economic interdependence among countries and this is why hospitability has characterised our economy.
In last week’s contribution, I wrote that Malta needs to evolve into an economy, which places human resources as its centre, its focal point. In this context, I believe that the small size of our economy can be an advantage to help us continue developing it in an increasingly economically interdependent world, while ensuring that the human person is indeed at its centre.
This I would now like to turn to the human person’s economic independence, which I believe is another matter. Again any individual is dependent on others when considering the economic environment. No one produces all the goods and services one needs and as such one has to rely on others to be able to source those goods and services.
So even from an individual perspective, economic interdependence is a fact of life that we cannot avoid. However, students of economics also know that man’s wants and needs are unlimited. So how far can someone push this interdependence?
The saying attributed to the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, comes in very handy. Aristotle wrote: “Bring your desires down to your present means. Increase them only when your increased means permit”. Essentially he promotes the concept of living within one’s means.
There are various reasons why as individuals we need to live within our own economic means. Two stick out prominently. First because no one owes us a living, and second because our economic decisions as individuals need to be sustainable over a period of time.
In this regard the state of a nation’s economy and the economic state of the individual intertwine. We cannot speak of economic independence, neither for the nation nor for an individual. To generate wealth we all have to accept the interdependence between countries and among individuals.
However, we need to speak of having sustainability over the medium- and long-term. And I believe that this is what really makes us independent as a nation and as individuals – the ability to take decisions without being subject to short-term needs such that our wealth becomes sustainable in the long run.