(No Martini = no party) No serious measures = no serious results

Do you remember an old tv spot, where George Clooney was denied his entrance to a party because he didn't bring Martini with him?  So even him, the famous actor, one of the most attractive men in the planet could not enter in the party without being "prepared" as the advertisement imposed.

Romania, like… George Clooney
Let us come back to… earth. Let us say that Romania is as… handsome as George Clooney. At least this was what it used to be for a long period of time: A very attractive country to foreign investors' eyes. During this period, it was also the "party's focus", with everyone trying to be close to. But time passed and even if George Clooney felt like "God", he found the party's door closed, when he rang the doorbell and he prepared to enter inside, charming everyone with his irresistible looks.

Thousands of (Romanians and foreigners) "small gods"…
How many thousands of people don't we all know… people who are involved in Real Estate (and other domains of business) and they behave like they are small gods. They got spoiled, having so many clients around them, that they still can't get over it. Sometimes I believe that in this country there are so many (Romanians and foreigners) "George Clooney" guys. But now the door is locked…

After Greece, Romania follows…
You keep on reading on the international media that Portugal and Spain will follow Greece in the "way to hell". It is easy to talk about "PIGS" (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain), describing how many mistakes the countries of the European South have made. But when I hear people in Romania describing why other countries are in trouble, I smile. Don't they realize that Romania is in trouble as well? This does not mean that I am Greek and I try to say that my country is not guilty. It is the first one to blame in the whole Europe and I had described to you this with details:

Poor Greece – Rich Greeks and Romania follows

I am sorry to disturb your peace, but as I also live in this country and I care about it, I see it following the footsteps of Greece, trying to follow each and every one of the mistakes that Greeks pay today. And now, except Portugal, Spain, Italy or Ireland, Romania is also in trouble…

The only country that took money by IMF without implementing many measures!
There is one country in this world which succeeded to receive money by the International Monetary Fund without really changing too much. It is Romania! Yes, it cut the salaries of the people who work for the State, but which are the other dramatic changes in the economy? 100.000 people were supposed to be fired from the State, but it didn't happen (just some unlucky poor guys, with a salary of 300 – 400 Euro / month). Many other measures were supposed to be implemented, but we didn't see them so far.

Since Romania's entry in European Union (back in 2007) we hear the same things, but in the end the real economy is stuck. If you ask me "and who are you who will tell us what to do?" and "so, you would be happy to see 100.000 people being fired?", the replies are simple: I am just someone who cares, ofcourse I am not very intelligent (there are people who know better what to do) and I am definitely not happy to see anyone being fired. But then if there are no measures, how do you expect things to improve?

"Caught up while eating honey"
We started the year… partying! We decided by ourselves that the crisis has ended, without really taking into consideration the world economic environment and the fact that Romania is still "expected to implement measures". The months have passed while we simply did not solve any of the problems which brought us here. Imagine that people were so much hypnotized, that many owners of properties have risen their prices, while there were no clients paying even the previous ones!

While the world was busy with the "Greek tragedy", we continued losing time. It was like while the others were taking care of the "naughty boy", we were the "good one" who promised to clean up the kitchen but instead it was eating honey. People were upset with Greece and didn't pay attention to this "good boy". All these until this week, when they started to realize that things are not leading to the direction they should. Practically, we were "caught up while eating honey"…

And now what?

Now there are two options:

• Either we will start moving, implementing measures, fighting bureaucracy and opening again the door to major investments.
• Or we will just take austerity measures (thank God not like Greece…), adding more taxes to the people who can not avoid paying.

We need:

• Major investments
• A positive environment for small and medium size business people
• The revival of Real Estate market
• The opening of the Alternative Energy investments

These and many more will be the key factors that can really move the economy to the right direction.

"No Martini = no party"

No serious measures = no serious results
If you remember the tv spot, George Clooney's problem was solved when he returned to the party bringing some boxes of… Martini. Having these by his side, the door opened and he entered inside to enjoy the party.

I would compare these boxes with the necessary measures that Romania needs. The party is the economic stability and the entry to Eurozone (if Euro will exist until 2015 ofcourse). But the problems should be solved anyway, either we will enter to Euro or not.

Let us see… Do we really have George Clooney's gift and charm? Or we just like to show off but at the critical moments we will step back?

PS. Once more, I declare that I am not involved into Romanian politics. I don't know any politician and I don't have any friends or enemies between them. The text above is just my personal approach, trying to avoid any political talk. Time will tell if my predictions are right or wrong. This does not mean that I am against or that I support the Government or anyone else.