By Nikos Christoforos
But what really impresses me is the attempt by some political circles to hold entrepreneurs accountable for all the problems. Unemployment, rising prices, tax evasion, foreigners, productivity, downgrades and more.
Let's look at some objective facts:
• Unemployment: no businessman likes to lay off staff. On the contrary, dismissing staff is considered a partial failure as it presupposes that his business is not doing well. Instead, the entrepreneur wants his business to go well and hire new people every day. The layoffs are the result of a bad economic climate, not the 'bad' businessman who wants to send people home. The businessman reacts to survive, not to be cursed by his staff. When you see sales fall every day, you try to cut costs in the hopes of saving as many as you can until the 'Bad' is over.
• Price increase: no prudent businessman likes to raise his prices, especially in times of crisis. It is almost suicide but in our case some situations imposed the increases. The increase in energy costs is so great that it cannot be absorbed, the increase in fuel, the increase in VAT requested and received by the Government, the increase in staff costs through the increase of the lower wage, the imposition of taxes, and of course the despair trying to try to get out of the few customers what they got out of the many.
• Tax evasion: all entrepreneurs know that they can not get it clean in the long run in relation to the Tax. What they like to do, and are allowed to do, is get what they can through the tax exemption. Fortunately, we have many good accountants and tax experts who can save you a lot of money, always with the blessings and support of the law. On the other hand, those who, in addition to tax exemption, also like tax evasion, do so because they see an opportunity, there is insufficient control, others do it and very few are punished. They behave like babies: if they get the chance, they will grab the ice cream and let them have trouble later. They need control so that they do not deviate. Simple.
• Foreigners: When the 'fashion' of importing and distributing foreigners began, the Cypriots were celebrating. They all wanted to have five employees for the price of three, a Filipina to wash their children and a car, two Bulgarians to carry their 'shekels' and so on. Even here it is with the policies of wise politicians that this phenomenon has grown and devastated thousands of jobs, sending millions of foreign currency abroad, bringing few sales to other companies and overall 'shrinking' the economy. The temporary benefit is minimal in the face of long-term costs, again due to wise policy.
• Productivity: The private sector is a productivity champion. He is always looking for and will be looking for new ways to get more work at a lower cost, sell more in less time, etc. It is very difficult to survive in the private sector in the long run if you do not perform. On the contrary, the tail in productivity is the State itself which directly or indirectly rewards laziness, delay, procrastination and 'sitting', either through the continuous and generous increase of earnings, the lack of evaluation, the permanence of the job, the 'ban' on dismissal and strengthening of unions.
• Degradations: a nice fruit that in recent years thrives every month in the Cypriot Economy. Each time it is fresh, from the same field but also from the same roots. When you downgrade the Cypriot Economy, you are degrading just that: The Cypriot Economy, managed by the Government and the State. It is not the individual companies that are degraded but their perspective, working in this Economy. Evaluation Houses see the problems, the inability to solve them, the promising policy statements and simply, degrade. Every time you downgrade the Cypriot Economy, the cost of lending to the state goes up simply because the Rating Houses judge that there is a greater risk that someone will not get back the funds they will lend. Entrepreneurs have very little involvement in the downgrades but bear the brunt of the burden because this means that they themselves will have to work harder and will probably have to pay new taxes to the State to make ends meet.
So the next time you find your boss, businessmen, competitors, the bargain, colleagues, the Crisis, the Euro, the European Union, capitalism, aliens or anyone else cursing, think about who is really to blame. : the one who tries to survive or the one who promises impractical solutions, talks a lot and does little, and in the end is paid with votes?
What criteria do you use to vote, in the long run or in the short run?