[Hungary] Economy News

[Kontúr]

Originally Posted by Qwert

Anti-Hungarian? In comparison with former Minister of Education Laszlo Szigeti maybe, but at least definitely not racist. Are you sure two neighbouring countries have nothing to talk about?

With the drunken idiot clown Slota and his friends, we have nothing to talk about.

[Qwert]

Originally Posted by RawLee

What about it? The culture house was relocated to an other building,what is bad about it?...compared to the teacher in a 75% hungarian village where the students had to pay if they used hungarian,this is nothing...literally.

It's not only about Slovak house. It's about everything what is new mayor doing. He forbidden children to sing and recite in Slovak on village celebration, he liquidated bilingual magazine issued by the village, teachers in Slovak school don't get additional charge now, the school was looking for principal who can speak Slovak, but mayor cancelled this condition for new principal. So Slovak house is only the peak of the iceberg. And what is more one member of municipality council drafted bill which should cancel teaching of Slovak language in the school.

I have never heard somebody had to pay when using Hungarian.

Originally Posted by Kontúr

With the drunken idiot clown Slota and his friends, we have nothing to talk about.

Slota is member of parliament, not government so no Hungarian officials have to meet with him. And I think two neighbouring countries must talk with each other no matter what politicians are in power. We can also say we have nothing to talk about with vulgar liar Gyurcsany, but we don't, because it's not true. We have a lot to talk about and if some politicians think the best way how to improve their terribly low popularity is worsening relation with neighbours than it's sad.

[Kontúr]

Originally Posted by Qwert

Slota is member of parliament, not government so no Hungarian officials have to meet with him. And I think two neighbouring countries must talk with each other no matter what politicians are in power. We can also say we have nothing to talk about with vulgar liar Gyurcsany, but we don't, because it's not true. We have a lot to talk about and if some politicians think the best way how to improve their terribly low popularity is worsening relation with neighbours than it's sad.

I am not a fan of Gyurcsány; moreover I think he is a moron, but he can hardy be compared to Slota. But let's imagine if our ruling coalition would consist an ati Slovak party, whose leader would constantly say idiotic things like; we should sent tanks to Bratislava and destroy it, Slovaks are cancers on the face of Europe, etc. would you think that you need to talk to a minister of such party. I don’t think so. And Gyurcsány never said such things neither any of our politicians seating in our parliament. Therefore, we have nothing to talk with any officials of Slota and his people. We can only have civilized conversation with civilized people.

[RawLee]

Originally Posted by Qwert

It's not only about Slovak house. It's about everything what is new mayor doing. He forbidden children to sing and recite in Slovak on village celebration, he liquidated bilingual magazine issued by the village, teachers in Slovak school don't get additional charge now, the school was looking for principal who can speak Slovak, but mayor cancelled this condition for new principal. So Slovak house is only the peak of the iceberg. And what is more one member of municipality council drafted bill which should cancel teaching of Slovak language in the school.

Lets get straight. People here elect their major directly. Slovaks are majority in town. So I suppose they elected him. Now he does things against them,and your country expects the gov to do something against him...which I suppose the gov cant do,as the gov cant "overwrite" the local decisions. If the locals dont like the current state,go to court. Its easy as this.

"teachers in Slovak school don't get additional charge now"
Why should the teacher get additional stuff?

[peterthegreat]

Originally Posted by Kontúr

but keep in mind you started from a lower lever.

yes... we started at a lower level... but 2007 was first year when slovak GDP p.c. ppp was higher than hungarian... so dont know what u want to say...

Originally Posted by Kontúr

Regarding History textbooks, why should we have a common history book? Slovakia or upper Hungary more precisely we call it "upper land" (Felvidék) is only one area of our history, we have Transylvania and "southern land" (Délvidék) also; therefore, if we follow this logic we will need to have a common history book with Romania and Serbia as well, which is nonsense. But in the case of Slovakia, until you have a racist, anti-Hungarian party in your government and they hold the education ministry there is nothing we could talk about at governmental level of course.

history should be same in each textbook... i would say... no?

[Qtya]

Originally Posted by peterthegreat

history should be same in each textbook... i would say... no?

Yes, so You'll have to catch up...

[Qwert]

Originally Posted by Kontúr

I am not a fan of Gyurcsány; moreover I think he is a moron, but he can hardy be compared to Slota. But let's imagine if our ruling coalition would consist an ati Slovak party, whose leader would constantly say idiotic things like; we should sent tanks to Bratislava and destroy it, Slovaks are cancers on the face of Europe, etc. would you think that you need to talk to a minister of such party. I don’t think so. And Gyurcsány never said such things neither any of our politicians seating in our parliament. Therefore, we have nothing to talk with any officials of Slota and his people. We can only have civilized conversation with civilized people.

I would like to call Gyurcsany's speech civilised, but I can't. Once again, nobody has to talk with Slota or some official from SNS. There are plenty of other politicians to talk with. Acting like somebody is civilised when ignoring neighbours is, ehm, wierd. Ján Slota does not representate all Slovaks. Both our govenrments are far from ideal, but we must keep official and also unofficial relations.
BTW, I can't wait for next Hungarian ruling coalition led by so "liberal" and "neighbour-loving" Fidesz.

Originally Posted by RawLee

Lets get straight. People here elect their major directly. Slovaks are majority in town. So I suppose they elected him. Now he does things against them,and your country expects the gov to do something against him...which I suppose the gov cant do,as the gov cant "overwrite" the local decisions. If the locals dont like the current state,go to court. Its easy as this.

"teachers in Slovak school don't get additional charge now"
Why should the teacher get additional stuff?

If somebody was democratically elected it doesn't mean he can do everything what he wants. Another problem is, that what mayor is doing is not illegal so he cannot be sued. If you want us to offer the highest class treatment with minorities, you should do the same, don't you think so? For example Slovak schools in Hungary are rather irony in comparison with Hungarian schools in Slovakia.

The teachers've been getting it years before, why not now?

Originally Posted by Qtya

Yes, so You'll have to catch up...

What exactly do you mean?

[RawLee]

Originally Posted by Qwert

If somebody was democratically elected it doesn't mean he can do everything what he wants. Another problem is, that what mayor is doing is not illegal so he cannot be sued. If you want us to offer the highest class treatment with minorities, you should do the same, don't you think so? For example Slovak schools in Hungary are rather irony in comparison with Hungarian schools in Slovakia.

The teachers've been getting it years before, why not now?

Ok. Now I expect a newspaper in every hungarian majority settlement. I expect payment bonus for every hungarian teacher there. I expect ONLY hungarian schools in settlements where they are majority(as it is the case with this village in question).
Are my demands reasonable? We offer the same for 30000(only being in majority in 1 single settlement in the country) as you do for 10 times more(being majority in entire southern Slovakia). I demand in every single school hungarian principal,and a culture house. Until that has been met,I dont think your country has any basis criticizing us.

Is this a good point,or shall we stop pushing what nationalist media pushes on both sides, and just let the locals handle their lives? I personally dont really care about such issues,as there are such news here about such issues every 4th day...

[Qwert]

Originally Posted by RawLee

Ok. Now I expect a newspaper in every hungarian majority settlement. I expect payment bonus for every hungarian teacher there. I expect ONLY hungarian schools in settlements where they are majority(as it is the case with this village in question)...

...I demand in every single school hungarian principal,and a culture house. Until that has been met,I dont think your country has any basis criticizing us...

There is Hungarian language newspaper which you can buy in whole Slovakia - Új szó, many regional magazines and newspapers, Hungarian teacher already get bonus. Why do you expect only Hungarian schools in settlements where they have majority I don't know.

Not every single principal is Hungarian, but majority is. Hungarians have plenty of cultural institutions, but not in every single village, since it would be useless.

Originally Posted by RawLee

Are my demands reasonable? We offer the same for 30000(only being in majority in 1 single settlement in the country) as you do for 10 times more(being majority in entire southern Slovakia).

I think all minorities should be given the same rights. Of course it's impossible and useless to give special rights to let's say 200 Russians or whatever living in Hungary, but I think there is a bit more than 200 Slovaks in Hungary. You by far don't offer the same to Slovaks in Hungary as we offer to Hungarians in Slovakia. For example pupils in so called Slovak schools in Hungary are being taught everything in Hungarian language except Slovak language. Pupils in Hungarian schools in Slovakia are being taught also everything in Hungarian except Slovak language. That's pretty ironic we teach Hungarians the same as you teach Slovaks.

Originally Posted by RawLee

Is this a good point,or shall we stop pushing what nationalist media pushes on both sides, and just let the locals handle their lives? I personally dont really care about such issues,as there are such news here about such issues every 4th day...

I hope they will solve it as well. Although I doubt it would be solved without attention of Slovak media and politicians.

Because I doubt with this discussion we will solve it, I think we can return back to topic - Hungarian economy.

[RawLee]

Originally Posted by Qwert

There is Hungarian language newspaper which you can buy in whole Slovakia - Új szó, many regional magazines and newspapers, Hungarian teacher already get bonus. Why do you expect only Hungarian schools in settlements where they have majority I don't know.

The point I tried to make was more on cost basis. There are about 30000 slovaks in Hungary. This settlement has 2200 population. AFAIK,not even Debrecen has its own newspaper,although it has 200000 inhabitants. Its not a settlement's duty to issue magazines.
Here,the school determines what it pays for its employees. why should the officials make a difference in this case?
Why should only hungarian...well,in this village(Pilisszentkereszt) there's only a slovak kindergarten and a slovak primary school. Nothing else.

Not every single principal is Hungarian, but majority is. Hungarians have plenty of cultural institutions, but not in every single village, since it would be useless.

Ok,lets get more reasonable...do they have these in every settlement with at least 2200 people(where they are majority)?

I think all minorities should be given the same rights. Of course it's impossible and useless to give special rights to let's say 200 Russians or whatever living in Hungary, but I think there is a bit more than 200 Slovaks in Hungary. You by far don't offer the same to Slovaks in Hungary as we offer to Hungarians in Slovakia. For example pupils in so called Slovak schools in Hungary are being taught everything in Hungarian language except Slovak language. Pupils in Hungarian schools in Slovakia are being taught also everything in Hungarian except Slovak language. That's pretty ironic we teach Hungarians the same as you teach Slovaks.

http://www.tkszlovakiskola.sulinet.hu/
Here you go. Bilingual primary school for slovaks. Dont expect the same for 130 students(the school in Pilisszentkereszt has that much)...and they actually learn in slovak here.

I hope they will solve it as well. Although I doubt it would be solved without attention of Slovak media and politicians.

Because I doubt with this discussion we will solve it, I think we can return back to topic - Hungarian economy.

[tersyxus]

Originally Posted by Qwert

There is Hungarian language newspaper which you can buy in whole Slovakia - Új szó

Sorry to bring it up I have a vague memory that there was a funny plan by the Cultural Department to force Uj szo to translate all names of release-locations into Slovakian. More exactly, only those release-towns could be named Hungarian that has at least twenty percent of Hungarian minority. Don't you think it was a ridiculous idea? Shall it happen in EU?

As for me, I'm proud of seeing Slovakian village and town names even if there is only one family in the settlement that remained Slovakian or there is noone but used to be. It simply feels good to know that our nations could live together in peace for hundreds of years and they normally still do the same in villages.

[Rikiswims115]

Hey guys, I live in America now; and normally I am very pessimistic about the Hungarian economy but at this point in time if I had to chose between Slovakia and Hungary on a pure economic view, I would still chose Hungary. I feel Slovakia has a flourishing economy currently; however, I feel if they continue cutting taxes; increasing spending, the economy will collapse--just as Keynesian would predict. In addition cooperations are doing great in Slovakia, but last I was there I still found the people to be overall poorer than in Hungary--this might just be my point of view but I believe a healthy GDP growth is 3-5%, max 6%. Anything beyond that is dangerous in the long run.

No offense to Slovakia in anyway, an unbelievably beautiful country and there are lots of great people that live there!

And finally, news about Hungary:

Hungary 2007 budget gap 5.5% of GDP, better than previous estimates

Hungary's public sector deficit was 5.5% of gross domestic product in 2007, smaller than any of the previous estimates, local news portal index.hu has learned on Friday. The government will submit its official report to Eurostat, the statistics office of the European Union, in a few days.
The last time the Finance Ministry announced a figure for the December and the full-2007 deficit was in January, when it estimated the annual gap at 5.7% of GDP... (continued at http://www.portfolio.hu/en/cikkek.tdp?k=2&i=14518 if you are interested)
----------
Down from 9.2 to 5.5%, when we were hoping to get 6.7%, is not half bad. My prediction is that even with the end of the visit fee and tuition fee, we will manage a 3.6-3.8% GDP deficit this year; and hopefully our GDP growth will be up to 3%.

[Qwert]

Originally Posted by RawLee

The point I tried to make was more on cost basis. There are about 30000 slovaks in Hungary. This settlement has 2200 population. AFAIK,not even Debrecen has its own newspaper,although it has 200000 inhabitants. Its not a settlement's duty to issue magazines.
Here,the school determines what it pays for its employees. why should the officials make a difference in this case?
Why should only hungarian...well,in this village(Pilisszentkereszt) there's only a slovak kindergarten and a slovak primary school. Nothing else.



Ok,lets get more reasonable...do they have these in every settlement with at least 2200 people(where they are majority)?



http://www.tkszlovakiskola.sulinet.hu/
Here you go. Bilingual primary school for slovaks. Dont expect the same for 130 students(the school in Pilisszentkereszt has that much)...and they actually learn in slovak here.

We can continue via PM if you want. I don't want to spoil this thread anymore. Just little remark. Why there is only 18 000 Slovaks (official sources says 18 000, not 30 000, but unofficially some say there is more than 100 000 Slovaks who from some reasons rather claim themselves Hungarians) in Hungary if there was about half million of them according to repatriation committee after WW2? This enormous assimilation is certainly not caused by perfect treatment with minorities.

Originally Posted by tersyxus

Sorry to bring it up I have a vague memory that there was a funny plan by the Cultural Department to force Uj szo to translate all names of release-locations into Slovakian. More exactly, only those release-towns could be named Hungarian that has at least twenty percent of Hungarian minority. Don't you think it was a ridiculous idea? Shall it happen in EU?

As for me, I'm proud of seeing Slovakian village and town names even if there is only one family in the settlement that remained Slovakian or there is noone but used to be. It simply feels good to know that our nations could live together in peace for hundreds of years and they normally still do the same in villages.

I have never heard about such plan. I only know that Hungarian textbooks should use Slovak geographic names with Hungarian in parenthesis.

Originally Posted by Rikiswims115

Hey guys, I live in America now; and normally I am very pessimistic about the Hungarian economy but at this point in time if I had to chose between Slovakia and Hungary on a pure economic view, I would still chose Hungary. I feel Slovakia has a flourishing economy currently; however, I feel if they continue cutting taxes; increasing spending, the economy will collapse--just as Keynesian would predict. In addition cooperations are doing great in Slovakia, but last I was there I still found the people to be overall poorer than in Hungary--this might just be my point of view but I believe a healthy GDP growth is 3-5%, max 6%. Anything beyond that is dangerous in the long run.

No offense to Slovakia in anyway, an unbelievably beautiful country and there are lots of great people that live there!

And finally, news about Hungary:

Hungary 2007 budget gap 5.5% of GDP, better than previous estimates

Hungary's public sector deficit was 5.5% of gross domestic product in 2007, smaller than any of the previous estimates, local news portal index.hu has learned on Friday. The government will submit its official report to Eurostat, the statistics office of the European Union, in a few days.
The last time the Finance Ministry announced a figure for the December and the full-2007 deficit was in January, when it estimated the annual gap at 5.7% of GDP... (continued at http://www.portfolio.hu/en/cikkek.tdp?k=2&i=14518 if you are interested)
----------
Down from 9.2 to 5.5%, when we were hoping to get 6.7%, is not half bad. My prediction is that even with the end of the visit fee and tuition fee, we will manage a 3.6-3.8% GDP deficit this year; and hopefully our GDP growth will be up to 3%.

That your point of view has a bit wrong information. We set 19% flat tax. That means some taxes were lowered and some risen. Tax incomes of national budget are still rising from SKK 188 billion in 2002 to SKK 258 billion in 2007. We don't cut taxes. However, there is proposal by author of flat tax reform to lower taxes on 16% without any negative effect on tax incomes by cancelling some exceptions. I hope it will be approved.

Spending is rising rapidly, but there is also big growth of labour productivity and relatively steady and for some people unfortunately also relatively low growth of wages. Much smaller that growth of labour productivity which is, BTW, the highest in V4 group.

Our GDP growth last year was extremely high, but our inflation was extremely low considering the increase of the prices of food and power and high economy growth and we still meet Maastricht criteria. That means the growth is "healthy" and we don't have to expect any crisis.

Here you can see how tax incomes and growth of GDP looked and look like. First column are tax incomes, second is growth of GDP:


Source: http://tvojepeniaze.pravda.sk/fico-m...sk_pspravy_p01

As the result: Slovak economy is in perfect condition and we can expect quick improvement on Western European standards. From V4 countries we overpassed all of them except Czech Republic. This year we should be on 85% of Czech economy and in 2015 on 90%. So purely economically I would choose definitely Slovakia instead of Hungary which is in pretty bad condition right now. I hope you will improve it as soon as possible, but we won't stay and wait for you.

[Kontúr]

Originally Posted by Qwert

From V4 countries we overpassed all of them except Czech Republic.

You must be joking You overpass other V4 countries only by GDP growth and as a result slightly the GDP per capita, which only means that your county produces little more than half of Hungary's output. Your GDP growth is mainly the result of low taxes and low wages; therefore, you don't have to wait for anybody except yourself, since you still have to catch up. Moreover, as I said Slovakia started from a lower lever; therefore, in absolute numbers, your GDP growth cannot be compared to any other V4 countries. For being more clear in 2006 Germany and France had nearly 2% GDP growth while Slovakia had 8.8%, we could both agree that those 2% in absolute numbers mean much more. Consequently, my point is that 8.8% is a great number, but it should not be overestimated. And it is an economic fact that a constant 4-6% growth is more healthier.

Don't take me wrong I think your previous government - including MKP - did a great job, but your economy is simply one sided. The engine of your GDP growth and FDI are mainly those carmaker companies that have settled in your country, which makes your economy healthy, but quite unbalanced.

Anyways, I agree with you to stop this comparison since its turning into some kind of dick measuring, which should not characterise our CE forum.

[tersyxus]

LOOOL

It seems everyone thinks himself to be an economist over here. Good to know, especially if you have a degree in that field. Please, everyone, let us know your qualifications. I mean, brokers, financial analysts, bankers PhDs and Masters, put your hands up! There's nothing to be ashame of.

• tersyxus - no degree in any field of Economics (although, if I were a tough guy, I could put together GDP-related "analyses" like you did above)

[Rikiswims115]

Originally Posted by tersyxus

LOOOL

It seems everyone thinks himself to be an economist over here. Good to know, especially if you have a degree in that field. Please, everyone, let us know your qualifications. I mean, brokers, financial analysts, bankers PhDs and Masters, put your hands up! There's nothing to be ashame of.

• tersyxus - no degree in any field of Economics (although, if I were a tough guy, I could put together GDP-related "analyses" like you did above)

Are you trying to stop us from debating because we do not have a degree in economics? I'm sorry--but as far as I know you do not have to be a professional to debate! We aren't making money off of this, we are using our spare time to look at articles and books and data and analyze what in our opinion the economical condition in Central Europe is. But in any case I do agree on one thing, anything we say should not be considered as professional analysis...

Qwert, I do not want to attack Slovakia at all--I really love that place. One thing you must see is that (in MY OPINION, tersyxus) Slovakia is a vibrant economy, but much less complex as compared to Hungary. Just looking at cities, Slovakia has several medium sized cities, but Hungary having just one big city of 2 million + with all the suburbs adds a whole new dimension to the Hungarian economy. Another aspect is that with numbers the Slovakian economy is doing better, but I read somewhere that about 20% of the Hungarian economy is black market. This is because of the complex and stupid tax system they have, but this portion of the economy is rarely put into the numbers. Lastly, Sure the Hungarian government messed up; however, do not get too cocky, Central Europe has always had one country which fell a little behind. There is no one in central Europe that will be up to the level of Western Europe in the near future.

[peterthegreat]

to add something to discussion... some facts.... u do the comparison... for me it means... u have more money in your hands (net), u can buy more and prices r lover in Bratislava than in Budapest... but it doesnt mean we have to be happy... still big gap compare to Vienna :-)

A comparison of purchasing power around the globe, 2008 update


NEW YORK = 100%
here r central european cities:

Vienna:
wage level (net): 97,9
domestic purchasing power (net): 110,9
prices: 113,3

Prague
wage level (net): 34,7
domestic purchasing power (net): 62,1
prices: 70,5

Bratislava:
wage level (net): 26,6
domestic purchasing power (net): 49,7
prices: 68,1

Budapest:
wage level (net): 25,6
domestic purchasing power (net): 41,3
prices: 77,9

Warsaw:
wage level (net): 24,8
domestic purchasing power (net): 39,1
prices: 81,7

source: www.ubs.com

[peterthegreat]

Originally Posted by Rikiswims115

And finally, news about Hungary:

Hungary 2007 budget gap 5.5% of GDP, better than previous estimates

Hungary's public sector deficit was 5.5% of gross domestic product in 2007, smaller than any of the previous estimates, local news portal index.hu has learned on Friday. The government will submit its official report to Eurostat, the statistics office of the European Union, in a few days.
The last time the Finance Ministry announced a figure for the December and the full-2007 deficit was in January, when it estimated the annual gap at 5.7% of GDP... (continued at http://www.portfolio.hu/en/cikkek.tdp?k=2&i=14518 if you are interested)
----------
Down from 9.2 to 5.5%, when we were hoping to get 6.7%, is not half bad. My prediction is that even with the end of the visit fee and tuition fee, we will manage a 3.6-3.8% GDP deficit this year; and hopefully our GDP growth will be up to 3%.

great to hear that... if u r doing better we r doing better too :-))))

[peterthegreat]

Originally Posted by Kontúr

You must be joking You overpass other V4 countries only by GDP growth and as a result slightly the GDP per capita, which only means that your county produces little more than half of Hungary's output. Your GDP growth is mainly the result of low taxes and low wages; therefore, you don't have to wait for anybody except yourself, since you still have to catch up. Moreover, as I said Slovakia started from a lower lever; therefore, in absolute numbers, your GDP growth cannot be compared to any other V4 countries. For being more clear in 2006 Germany and France had nearly 2% GDP growth while Slovakia had 8.8%, we could both agree that those 2% in absolute numbers mean much more. Consequently, my point is that 8.8% is a great number, but it should not be overestimated. And it is an economic fact that a constant 4-6% growth is more healthier.

Don't take me wrong I think your previous government - including MKP - did a great job, but your economy is simply one sided. The engine of your GDP growth and FDI are mainly those carmaker companies that have settled in your country, which makes your economy healthy, but quite unbalanced.

Anyways, I agree with you to stop this comparison since its turning into some kind of dick measuring, which should not characterise our CE forum.

1. u usually compare GDP per capita... to have clear view... of course 5,5 million Slovaks cant produce more than 10,2 million Hungarians... would be really bad for u :-) if u want to compare only economies... than for example we can talk about China... it is definetlly in top 5 in the world... but people r generaly poor... it has more sence in this matter to compare HDP per capita since it tells u more about the "wealth" of people living in that country ....

2. as i wrote... yes we started at a lover level.... but the difference was not that big (GDP per capita)... u really cant say, that 10,4 pct Slovak gowth is lover than 1,3 pct Hungarian growt... or that the gap is not big... u must be kidding... and now when GDP p.c. is almost about the same... the economy should have same growth as ours to catch up...of course... exact numbers r exact numbers... and we know that our 10pct growth is cca. 3pct growth in germany in absolute numbers.... again... the same example of China... 10 pct growt is still less than 2 pct growth in germany.... and even if China has 10pct growt the gap between the two countries is widening...
and we will never have 10pct growth anymore... i would say... but around 5 pct for next five years sounds very logical for me:-)

3. car industry... we know it is not forever... but we have got some 10 years to attract other industries... more high tech... more value added... and so on... btw... soon not car industry but electronics will be the biggest in slovakia...

[Kontúr]

Originally Posted by tersyxus

LOOOL

It seems everyone thinks himself to be an economist over here. Good to know, especially if you have a degree in that field. Please, everyone, let us know your qualifications. I mean, brokers, financial analysts, bankers PhDs and Masters, put your hands up! There's nothing to be ashame of.

• tersyxus - no degree in any field of Economics (although, if I were a tough guy, I could put together GDP-related "analyses" like you did above)

"Just for the memo" if it means anything I hold a Master degree in economics. But with or without such degree I think there are a lot of us who is interested in this subject.

Originally Posted by peterthegreat

1. u usually compare GDP per capita... to have clear view... of course 5,5 million Slovaks cant produce more than 10,2 million Hungarians... would be really bad for u :-) if u want to compare only economies... than for example we can talk about China... it is definetlly in top 5 in the world... but people r generaly poor... it has more sence in this matter to compare HDP per capita since it tells u more about the "wealth" of people living in that country ....

For clear comparison see my table below

Originally Posted by peterthegreat

2. as i wrote... yes we started at a lover level.... but the difference was not that big (GDP per capita)... u really cant say, that 10,4 pct Slovak gowth is lover than 1,3 pct Hungarian growt...

I never said that

Originally Posted by peterthegreat

...and we will never have 10pct growth anymore... i would say... but around 5 pct for next five years sounds very logical for me:-)

I agree

Originally Posted by peterthegreat

3. car industry... we know it is not forever... but we have got some 10 years to attract other industries... more high tech... more value added... and so on... btw... soon not car industry but electronics will be the biggest in slovakia...

Which makes your economy more healthier in a long run. That was my point too.