Joseph Vella Bonnici’s run-of-the- mill analysis of the 2011-2012 Global Competitiveness Report contained a very amusing misinterpretation.

Mr Vella Bonnici stated that the “report indicates that our country is overdependent on foreign ownership”. The author presumedly reached this conclusion on the basis that Malta is ranked 64th (out of 142 countries) in the “prevalence of foreign ownership” section.

Quite a low ranking.

However, if Mr Vella Bonnici had bothered to properly analyse the report (or use common sense), he would have found that our ranking does not at all imply overdependence. On the contrary, it is resultant of the fact that foreign ownership is on the low side!

This hilarious misinterpretation is typical of the old Labour mentality whereby “il-barrani” (the foreigner) is perceived to be a threat and, consequently, undesirable.