Les Manison

Cypriots own a lot of property but that hides the true story Ultimately, economics is about people. In this connection the ECB Household Finance and Consumption Surveys (HFCS) provide valuable ...

Policies and lifestyles causing environmental damage and derailing economy Over the last 40 years the Cyprus government has relied increasingly on three main sources to generate economic growth, namely, property investment, ...

The political elite implements policies favouring the business elite, while cementing their own status and power Political capitalism broadly defined is an economic system in which the business elite and ...

Despite making easy money, Cyprus banks not helping economy and society By Les Manison Cyprus banks have benefitted considerably from the higher interest rate policies of the ECB since mid-2022, ...

The proposed Government budgets for 2024 to 2026 presented to the House of Representatives in early October 2023 are once again self-serving in that the short-term financial and political interests of the decision-making ...

Short-term patchwork government measures to deal with cost-of-living crisis and persistent inequalities are not enough By Les Manison A report by the OECD on “taxing wages” reveals that the increase ...

There are growing concerns about the recent weakening of economic activity, the persistence of inflation, and the deterioration in the government finances in Cyprus that come on top of underlying ...

Large increases in profits not due to better performance in using the funds of depositors to improve the economy Recent media reports on the performances of the largest Cyprus banks ...

It hurts the economy, society and the environment Under the democratic system of Cyprus the executive and legislative branches of government are elected by the people to serve the people. ...

An enforceable tax on wealth, a serious clampdown on tax evasion, combatting the public sector payroll and improving the minimum pay system are all crucial Income inequalities are dominated by ...

Wealth inequality is much more severe than income inequality There are many reasons why high and increasing economic inequality is a worrying phenomenon. It can be a problem in itself, ...

By Les Manison Newly elected President Nikos Christodoulides promised in his campaign that his government would be one of “broad social acceptance”. For the economy this should mean a situation ...

Decent wages for most workers have fallen victim to crony capitalism In a Cyprus Mail opinion piece of April 30, 2023 it was argued that the economic system of Cyprus characterised by ...

Failure of government to prosecute blatant cases of corruption and nepotism most striking example of crony capitalism on the island By Les Manison Capitalism, also called a free market economy, ...

Staff seem to have sacrificed quality for quantity in their obsession with the cult of GDP growth The concluding statement of the IMF outlining its preliminary findings at the end ...

By Les Manison In his campaign to become President of the Republic of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides promised that his government would be one of “broad social acceptance” and would represent ...

Bankers failed to make use of idle cash and help create a healthy, equitable economy The activities and performance of Cyprus banks during the Anastasiades administration shows that they have ...

The Cyprus government under the leadership of President Nicos Anastasiades has done a poor job in managing the economy with respect to benefiting most of its citizens over the past 10 ...

According to the Eurobarometer survey of July 2022, 94 per cent of respondents were of the view that corruption was widespread in Cyprus and that political parties were seen as being particularly ...

Between the government’s main focus being more and better paid public employees and banks’ passiveness and single-mindedness the economy only works for the few President Nicos Anastasiades, Minister of ...

The focus on property development and consumerism favour the elite at the expense of the environment and ordinary citizens The ongoing performance and policies of the government of the Republic ...

The Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have had major socio-economic repercussions reflected in slower eco-nomic growth and rampant inflation together with a related severe cost of living crisis in ...

Government more interested in pleasing credit-rating agencies than citizen welfare By Les Manison In presenting the government budget for 2023 to the House of Representatives the minister of finance, Constantinos Petrides, ...

The prospect of a recession in Cyprus is a distinct possibility According to the latest Eurobarometer by the European Commission seven out of ten Cypriots describe the economic situation of ...