FLASH
Shkruar nga Irena Beqiraj
Unfortunately for us, this year's budget also shows that the government aims for economic growth without aiming for increased productivity.
As the budget is discussed, there is proud talk of economic growth, an increase in the minimum wage, and fiscal amnesty, but no one stops to explain and address with solutions the fact that Albania has the lowest level of labor productivity in the region and one of the lowest in Europe.
Also, the paradox that the more we grow economically, the more emigration increases requires a careful explanation. According to estimates by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), for every one thousand inhabitants in Albania, 22.1 were emigrants in the 38 OECD countries, an indicator that places Albania well ahead of other countries such as Romania as the second country with 12.7 emigrants per 1000 inhabitants, Bulgaria (11.9) or Cuba (10.6).
For any economist who studies sustainable development, it is clear that when labor productivity in a given market does not improve, economic growth further encourages emigration.
To simplify the analysis, I'm taking an example! A bus driver in Albania is paid 600 Euros per month, while his colleague in Germany is paid around 5,000 Euros per month.
Even if we could come up with a quantitative measure of driving quality, an 8-fold gap in the productivity of two drivers would exist if we were to compare professional racing drivers like Michael Schumacher or Lewis Hamilton to some eighteen-year-olds who have just passed their driving test. But for two professional drivers, this difference in driving quality is impossible.
Meanwhile, if the Albanian driver emigrates and works as a driver in Germany, his productivity increases overnight. Having said that, the advantage of the German driver is not individual. The answer must be sought in the economic environment.
The German driver is fortunate to operate in an economy that has better technology, more productive firms, more developed economic sectors, better institutions, and better infrastructure - achievements that are largely the products of collective actions taken over decades.
Since 2008, the period when the country moved to middle-income countries per capita, emigration has only seen an increase.
This growth comes for two reasons. The first is the increased capacity and opportunities for people to emigrate. The second is the lack of productivity growth policies, the second wave of deindustrialization that domestic production is going through, the fact that the largest firms produce almost "nothing" and we parasitize on the state budget, the fact that institutions do not function and are easily corrupted does not enable the transition to a high-income country. The long stagnation at the level of a middle-income country will increasingly push Albanians to seek more favorable economic environments where with the same skills they can be several times more productive.
Unfortunately for us, this year's budget also shows that the government aims for economic growth without aiming for increased productivity.
This government approach will continue to fuel inequality, will not improve well-being and will continue to leave 40.5% of society at the poverty line or at risk of social exclusion, ready to emigrate.
The 2026 budget once again shows that we are far from the economic model imposed by the 21st century, which is called "productivism". Increasing the minimum wage, budget transfers, fiscal amnesties, or the construction of road and railway tunnels that cost us because they also make us geostrategic centers do not improve well-being, on the contrary, they add hot air to our economic bubble.
And finally, the epitome of government incompetence, "the largest budget in history," reminded me of Milton Friedman, who in 1975 thought "there was no problem in New York City that couldn't be solved if the budget of New York City were doubled."
Today, New York City's budget is three times larger than it was then, but the problems are also three times worse, which shows that no matter how much resources are increased, they do not solve any problems if they continue to be misused.
So, with regret but with conviction, I say that the 2026 budget, the largest budget, remains the worst budget in the history of the market economy.
Eshte per te humbur mendjen nga tuneli palloshit