Serbian unemployment rate at 21.6 percent

This is a clear exemple that Tadic, Kostunica and the Serbian Gov. in general has done NOTHING to help the ordinary citizen of Serbia, so preoccupied and embedded they are with the past of Serbia and what was accomplished during the «joint criminal enterprise» in the 90.

If Kostunica would have followed in Dindic's steps, Serbia would be better off. Too bad he did not realize this. Serbia is still dealing with its old demons.

Compared to Kosovo's 71.4% this is great! And this number will get lower as new foreign investments keep flooding into Serbia and by the way Croatia's unemployment is 17.5% nothing to brag about, Macedonia is 18.3%....

Victor,

nice try at blaming the Govt. However, unemployment was an endemic problem with all East European states that are still in transition to market orientated economies and Serbia has lagged on this process but can catch up rapidly with lessons learned by those who preceded and I don't mean by exporting your unemployed as in the case of Poland. Jobs don't just pop up out of nowhere!

However, I will give you the point that the Government is focused on it's number one priority namely that of it's Sovereignity. Well frankly no Goverenment in the world would be worth it's salt if it did not first and foremost uphold and protect it's Sovereignity - is that not crucial to the concept of a nation state? If you have no nation then I guess there is no-one to give jobs to so the priority should be protecting & upholding the state!

That said I am not keen with the remarks made that the figure is in the 800,000 region but then the Minister offers excuses for an alternative - surely it is better to state it as it is and make sure you have a plan to resolve it rather then clumsly suggest an alternative figure!

Pretty bad. Croatia, Montenegro and not to mention the star performer Slovenia are doing much better. And this country wants to take care of Kosovo, who can not even take care of himself?

Joe,

Actually, Montenegro is doing much worse, and Croatia isn't doing that well either. Only place they are doing well is where foreign companies are.

Also, unemployment in what was East Germany is about 25% anyways. For Serbia at where they are to have it only 20% is actually good because the only place it can and will go is down.

Joe, do you serve a purpose here? Or will you bring Kosovo into every article? If Serbia wins championship in a sport you will say something about Kosovo. I should mention slavery every time I talk about America or Iraq.

One point to make, most people mention a country as their mother, and take care of herself. Yet, you said himself in referring to the country. I just found that quite odd.

Victor, Kostunica was never going to follow in Djindjic's steps, because they basically were political enemies. The person (and party) that should be blamed for the failure to really move on, is in my opinon Tadic and the democratic party.
Tadic seems to be a classic 'election-campaign-only'-politician. He simply lacks the energy and political insights of someone like Djindjic. Always a step behind, never in the lead. And very, very invisible unless there is a total crisis. You can't promise the world during elections, and after that sit in your office and hide between the constitutional limits of your position...

Although I believe Tadic is of good intentions, his stay in power in multiple ways blocks the way for a more productive, energetic leader of the democratic side.
Who that may be? No idea... But this is leading the masses only into the electoral claws of Kostunica and the Radicals.

joe your propaganda attempts and anti- Serbiism is evident.

Firstly, the unemployment rate is probably higher than 21%. Joe, what's really bad is that a country such a s Hungary which has been a net beneficiary of EU money for many years now, still has an unemployment rate nearly 10%. Maybe it's due to your encumbent government who openly admitted that they had made no progress on the economy, but when they were found out, refused to leave power - Banana republic.

Secondly, the mess with Kosovo is probably deterring many international investors until they see how the situation is resolved.

Last, Princip is correct in saying the transition from what was ultimately a communist economy to a free market economy will take some time to implement.

As for Kosovo, 21% employment is much better than the EU's estimate of unemployment in Kosovo - a staggering 70%.

Hey, Joe, If you knew anything about Slovenia and the other republics you would know that Tito overfunded Slovenia so that they were a lot better off than the other republics. He made the living standard much better for them, at the expense of the rest of the country.


As for Tadic, Kostunica... I feel that they are all bad for the people. As we have seen countless times in Latin America, the pro-West economic reforms give more bad out than good. We have seen this in Russia and just about everywhere. Even in so called good cases like Poland, unemoployment and poverty is at a higher rate than it was before their economic reforms.

PB,
You missed your shot my boy. I found it very amusing that you call the Hungarian government my own. It is as much mine as yours. I am not a Hungarian citizen. What the Hungarians are doing for years
is woodoo economics and I am surprised that they are not in a worst shape. But it is funny to see what a big hang up or complex you have because of the bad situation in Serbia: you point to a neighboring country. And the 70% unemployment rate in Kosovo. Don't tell me that Kostunica would bring it lower. And why does it take so long, the transition from a communist country? It is now about 16 years. Most of the other ex-communist countries started it at the same time and finished it ....some of them years ago. That shows that something is rotten in Serbia.

if you look at life as the glass being half full then it is great that 80% of workers have a job.If you look at life as the glass being half empty then it is terrible that 20% do not.However,sometimes statistics are misleading because they include lazy people who actually do not want to work and people who work unofficially(off the books).Having said this I urge Serbia to institute the most favorable terms for companies to establish manufacturing enterprises there.Serbia could in a short period of time become a Balkan tiger.All it needs are correct economic policies.

KS, only 50%!!!

As to Joe, I have read your posts and they don't have any relevance. First of all, Serbia was never communist. If you knew your economical systems, you would know Serbia was socialist, which is DIFFERENT from communism. Which did not even fall until after 2000. So 16 years? Also, when your infrastructure is bombed and you are left to foot the bill, it doesn't help your economy out. Look American stocks and businesses collapsed after 9/11 and that was just 2 buildings. Imagine the whole country bombarded.

Joe - you must be another "Joe" to the usual Joe who comments here whose ethnicity is Hungarian and has a huge hang up about losing the Austro HUngarian empire in no small way due to a Serbian. That explains the Hungarian comparison.

Let's clear this up. Are you the same Joe?

Looks like your shooting sights aren't straight, along with a poor knowledge of fundamental economics. Former communist countries which have been doing so well have all joined the EU and have been receiving Eu subsidies for many years prior to joining. Serbia has in the past 15+ years faced sanctions and a war or two which would take it's toll on any small country. Much more interesting is to see how fast the economy is growing recently now that international investors have seen the country stabilising in the last few years and are willing to employ their capital there.

PB,

There is only one Joe here, the US citizen. I am surprised that it take you so long to get it. And about your ridiculous claim that I have a hang up about losing the Austro-Hungarian Empire? Where did you get it? You really dream up things. I was never specially fond of the Austrians. What I stated however - aknowledged widely as a fact - that the new borders of Hungary were drown in a stricly arbitrary way and not along ethnic lines. Try to deny that.
As for you constantly referring to the old "K und K" Empire maybe you have an unconscious fascination with it. Maybe you think that if it still existed the Serbs of Vojvodina would have a much higher living standard. That would be most likely the case.

You are clearly showing serbian propaganda when you spew this information, "As for Kosovo, 21% employment is much better than the EU's estimate of unemployment in Kosovo - a staggering 70%."

Kosova is 50% unemployed (at worst). Seventy is a very high number, according to those facts that means that 7/10 don't have jobs which is a lie. Yet again another attempt by Serb Camp.

Milan, Croatia is miles ahead of Serbia. At least Croatian citizens on average earn 3 times more than what those in Serbia earn that do have jobs. Imagine how much further Croatia would have been if it wasn't for the war instigated by Serbia .... hmm, probably a lot closer to Slovenia's standard. Croatia is 10 years behind Slovenia, Serbia is another 15-20 years behind Croatia. Thats a lot of catching up Serbia has to achieve ....

Joe - either you are a different Joe who used to comment here, in which case you should use another handle so we distinguish the two of you, or you are the same Joe who for some unknown reason is now ashamed of his Hungarian ethnicity. Yes, it is a Serb's fault that the A-H empire fell apart and rightly so as it was a repressive regime. As for your borders. you can thank the big powers for that. it was your punishment for your repression. Once Serbia is in the EU it will eclipse Hungary's economy.

"Look American stocks and businesses collapsed after 9/11 and that was just 2 buildings. Imagine the whole country bombarded"
Milan

Are you really so ignorant of
the facts? Are people so badly informed in Serbia?
It was in 2001 when the bubble of the Internet stocks burst and people lost a lot of money not because of 9/11.
After 9/11 there was a big drop for few days from an already low level due to the burst of the bubble.

Pretty bad. Croatia, Montenegro and not to mention the star performer Slovenia are doing much better. And this country wants to take care of Kosovo, who can not even take care of himself?

KS, only 50%!!!

As to Joe, I have read your posts and they don't have any relevance. First of all, Serbia was never communist. If you knew your economical systems, you would know Serbia was socialist, which is DIFFERENT from communism. Which did not even fall until after 2000. So 16 years? Also, when your infrastructure is bombed and you are left to foot the bill, it doesn't help your economy out. Look American stocks and businesses collapsed after 9/11 and that was just 2 buildings. Imagine the whole country bombarded.

This is a clear exemple that Tadic, Kostunica and the Serbian Gov. in general has done NOTHING to help the ordinary citizen of Serbia, so preoccupied and embedded they are with the past of Serbia and what was accomplished during the «joint criminal enterprise» in the 90.

If Kostunica would have followed in Dindic's steps, Serbia would be better off. Too bad he did not realize this. Serbia is still dealing with its old demons.

Victor,

nice try at blaming the Govt. However, unemployment was an endemic problem with all East European states that are still in transition to market orientated economies and Serbia has lagged on this process but can catch up rapidly with lessons learned by those who preceded and I don't mean by exporting your unemployed as in the case of Poland. Jobs don't just pop up out of nowhere!

However, I will give you the point that the Government is focused on it's number one priority namely that of it's Sovereignity. Well frankly no Goverenment in the world would be worth it's salt if it did not first and foremost uphold and protect it's Sovereignity - is that not crucial to the concept of a nation state? If you have no nation then I guess there is no-one to give jobs to so the priority should be protecting & upholding the state!

That said I am not keen with the remarks made that the figure is in the 800,000 region but then the Minister offers excuses for an alternative - surely it is better to state it as it is and make sure you have a plan to resolve it rather then clumsly suggest an alternative figure!

joe your propaganda attempts and anti- Serbiism is evident.

Joe,

Actually, Montenegro is doing much worse, and Croatia isn't doing that well either. Only place they are doing well is where foreign companies are.

Also, unemployment in what was East Germany is about 25% anyways. For Serbia at where they are to have it only 20% is actually good because the only place it can and will go is down.

Joe, do you serve a purpose here? Or will you bring Kosovo into every article? If Serbia wins championship in a sport you will say something about Kosovo. I should mention slavery every time I talk about America or Iraq.

One point to make, most people mention a country as their mother, and take care of herself. Yet, you said himself in referring to the country. I just found that quite odd.

Compared to Kosovo's 71.4% this is great! And this number will get lower as new foreign investments keep flooding into Serbia and by the way Croatia's unemployment is 17.5% nothing to brag about, Macedonia is 18.3%....

PB,
You missed your shot my boy. I found it very amusing that you call the Hungarian government my own. It is as much mine as yours. I am not a Hungarian citizen. What the Hungarians are doing for years
is woodoo economics and I am surprised that they are not in a worst shape. But it is funny to see what a big hang up or complex you have because of the bad situation in Serbia: you point to a neighboring country. And the 70% unemployment rate in Kosovo. Don't tell me that Kostunica would bring it lower. And why does it take so long, the transition from a communist country? It is now about 16 years. Most of the other ex-communist countries started it at the same time and finished it ....some of them years ago. That shows that something is rotten in Serbia.

Joe - you must be another "Joe" to the usual Joe who comments here whose ethnicity is Hungarian and has a huge hang up about losing the Austro HUngarian empire in no small way due to a Serbian. That explains the Hungarian comparison.

Let's clear this up. Are you the same Joe?

Looks like your shooting sights aren't straight, along with a poor knowledge of fundamental economics. Former communist countries which have been doing so well have all joined the EU and have been receiving Eu subsidies for many years prior to joining. Serbia has in the past 15+ years faced sanctions and a war or two which would take it's toll on any small country. Much more interesting is to see how fast the economy is growing recently now that international investors have seen the country stabilising in the last few years and are willing to employ their capital there.

if you look at life as the glass being half full then it is great that 80% of workers have a job.If you look at life as the glass being half empty then it is terrible that 20% do not.However,sometimes statistics are misleading because they include lazy people who actually do not want to work and people who work unofficially(off the books).Having said this I urge Serbia to institute the most favorable terms for companies to establish manufacturing enterprises there.Serbia could in a short period of time become a Balkan tiger.All it needs are correct economic policies.

PB,

There is only one Joe here, the US citizen. I am surprised that it take you so long to get it. And about your ridiculous claim that I have a hang up about losing the Austro-Hungarian Empire? Where did you get it? You really dream up things. I was never specially fond of the Austrians. What I stated however - aknowledged widely as a fact - that the new borders of Hungary were drown in a stricly arbitrary way and not along ethnic lines. Try to deny that.
As for you constantly referring to the old "K und K" Empire maybe you have an unconscious fascination with it. Maybe you think that if it still existed the Serbs of Vojvodina would have a much higher living standard. That would be most likely the case.

You are clearly showing serbian propaganda when you spew this information, "As for Kosovo, 21% employment is much better than the EU's estimate of unemployment in Kosovo - a staggering 70%."

Kosova is 50% unemployed (at worst). Seventy is a very high number, according to those facts that means that 7/10 don't have jobs which is a lie. Yet again another attempt by Serb Camp.

Milan, Croatia is miles ahead of Serbia. At least Croatian citizens on average earn 3 times more than what those in Serbia earn that do have jobs. Imagine how much further Croatia would have been if it wasn't for the war instigated by Serbia .... hmm, probably a lot closer to Slovenia's standard. Croatia is 10 years behind Slovenia, Serbia is another 15-20 years behind Croatia. Thats a lot of catching up Serbia has to achieve ....

"Look American stocks and businesses collapsed after 9/11 and that was just 2 buildings. Imagine the whole country bombarded"
Milan

Are you really so ignorant of
the facts? Are people so badly informed in Serbia?
It was in 2001 when the bubble of the Internet stocks burst and people lost a lot of money not because of 9/11.
After 9/11 there was a big drop for few days from an already low level due to the burst of the bubble.

Victor, Kostunica was never going to follow in Djindjic's steps, because they basically were political enemies. The person (and party) that should be blamed for the failure to really move on, is in my opinon Tadic and the democratic party.
Tadic seems to be a classic 'election-campaign-only'-politician. He simply lacks the energy and political insights of someone like Djindjic. Always a step behind, never in the lead. And very, very invisible unless there is a total crisis. You can't promise the world during elections, and after that sit in your office and hide between the constitutional limits of your position...

Although I believe Tadic is of good intentions, his stay in power in multiple ways blocks the way for a more productive, energetic leader of the democratic side.
Who that may be? No idea... But this is leading the masses only into the electoral claws of Kostunica and the Radicals.

Hey, Joe, If you knew anything about Slovenia and the other republics you would know that Tito overfunded Slovenia so that they were a lot better off than the other republics. He made the living standard much better for them, at the expense of the rest of the country.


As for Tadic, Kostunica... I feel that they are all bad for the people. As we have seen countless times in Latin America, the pro-West economic reforms give more bad out than good. We have seen this in Russia and just about everywhere. Even in so called good cases like Poland, unemoployment and poverty is at a higher rate than it was before their economic reforms.

Firstly, the unemployment rate is probably higher than 21%. Joe, what's really bad is that a country such a s Hungary which has been a net beneficiary of EU money for many years now, still has an unemployment rate nearly 10%. Maybe it's due to your encumbent government who openly admitted that they had made no progress on the economy, but when they were found out, refused to leave power - Banana republic.

Secondly, the mess with Kosovo is probably deterring many international investors until they see how the situation is resolved.

Last, Princip is correct in saying the transition from what was ultimately a communist economy to a free market economy will take some time to implement.

As for Kosovo, 21% employment is much better than the EU's estimate of unemployment in Kosovo - a staggering 70%.

Joe - either you are a different Joe who used to comment here, in which case you should use another handle so we distinguish the two of you, or you are the same Joe who for some unknown reason is now ashamed of his Hungarian ethnicity. Yes, it is a Serb's fault that the A-H empire fell apart and rightly so as it was a repressive regime. As for your borders. you can thank the big powers for that. it was your punishment for your repression. Once Serbia is in the EU it will eclipse Hungary's economy.