U.S. tariffs on EU's wine & spirits

 

Glad to hear that pasta, cheese, wine and spirits, as well as olive oil and sunglasses, are among the priority sectors of Italy's goods that the European Union wants Washington to shield from higher tariffs.

Major Irish whishey distillery owners are also hopeful U.S. customs duties will be reduced. 

It seems higher tariffs continue to impact negatively on U.S. sales and jobs, although they generate government revenue.  

The weather has been too cold since the 27th of November ... it's perfect for a glass of red wine 🍷❄🙂

In the meanwhile, on the geopolitical front, the 49-year-old Ukrainian man, Serhii Kuznietsov, arrived in Germany two days ago, after Italy's highest court approved his extradition later last week. That man is suspected of setting off explosions that damaged the EU Nord Stream pipelines in 2022. I clearly know that a very small number of blogging friends don't like such news, as they have been shaped to believe that Ukrainians can never be guilty parties. But we are talking about a German criminal court, not a Belarusian or Russian one. Not to mention that EU, UK and US' newspapers don't highlight this news as it should.

Have a nice weekend 🍁🍷🌰

Brain drain

   

Since 2014 to 2024 more than one million Italians aged between 23 and 34 years have left their country.  It seems that  young  Italians think there is a lack of job recognition in their country, as they feel their skills are undervalued at home.      In this context, Italian government is trying to reverse the trend by incentivising the youth, as the brain drain is exacerbating Italy's demographic crisis. 

According to Eurostat, nine member states reported salaries above the EU average standing at € 37,863. And in six EU countries (Luxembourg, Denmark, Ireland, Belgium, Austria and Germany) average salary was above € 50,000. Finland, France and Sweden are also ranked above the EU average of € 37,863.

         

Many young Italians also look for better wages in Switzerland, which is not an EU member state. Furthermore, some Switzerland's cities, such as Zurich, Basel and Geneva, allow for a confortable lifestyle.

Have a nice 1st weekend of March! ⛅ 

Ghost villages

There are many old villages in Central Italy that have been left deserted due to migration, as working-age populations are moving to urban areas. 

Last week I heard the silence and the atmosphere of some old villages, which are experiencing a period of gradual depopulation. They are mainly located close in the regions of Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio (Central Italy).  

The main problem, which is stricly related to this demographic phenomenon, is that everyone leaving their homevillage does so not to come back again. 

I've found an article about the Italian demographic phenomenon above mentioned. It was published in 2021 by Anna-Leena Korpijärvi. She wrote that a falling birth rate is also responsible for this gradual depopulation. In addition, these villages sometimes lack services, as there are no supermarkets, banks or pharmacies. And the close hospital is one hour away.  

In my opinion, lower local taxes may be an action to be implemented in old villages affected by depopulation. 

Have a nice month of October  🍁🍄🌰🍂 

Mostly cloudy

 

It seems it will be cloudy over the next weekend. And the weather will be less hot than the previous days.

And it is easy to see that fishermen will not work in the next two days.

The tower in the above picture is located on the rooftops of an old building. More than three centuries ago it was places in such a strategic position that allowed for spotting potential enemies coming from the sea.

Many boats are still in the harbours along the coast, although the Summer is going to an end.

On the job front, the good news is that since January 2024 Italy's unemployment rate has been falling. It marks its lower level since March 2008, as government incentives to housing and infrastructures investment.

 Have a nice weekend ⛵☁⛅☁

Northeast China

Last week, on June 8, I shared some pictures which a friend of mine had sent from Northeast China.  I was glad to see some friends of our blogging community ( Veronica , Tanza , Anna and Ashok ) enjoyed his photos. Thanks for the appreciation! He had also sent these ones.

With regards to Northeast China, I have just heard that part of the country will start using Russia's Vladivostok port, reducing freight transport. This means that distance will decrease by more than 800 km from industrial base of Northeast China provinces.

The bad news is that the unemployment rate among young Chinese people has been growing since late 2022, reaching 19.6 % in  early April 2023.

I hope you will have a nice new week!  

Italian Republic Day

Yesterday I went to Rome for job, once again on a sunny morning. During a coffee break I enjoyed a beautiful corner of the town. 

I don't know what exactly means the English word "impolite". Maybe it is a synonym of "uncivilized" ... I was sorry to see some impolite people leaving scooters on the sidewalk.

A woman with her baby stroller and a couple of tourists from Scotland could't walk through these scooters. So I had no choice but to collect the scooters and take them on the right side of the street.

 

I didn't take the picture below in North Africa or Central America. I took it yesterday, after I had finished work. I was walking in a neighborhood close to one of Rome's railway station (Roma Ostiense, that's ist name). This photo shows a market that is completely illegal. People who come from North Africa run that market. 

A question comes to mind: why Italian governments continue to tolerate illegal immigration in my country?  This is senseless, as  those people need our help on their country, directly. 

Most illegal immigrants are working (illegally) in the countryside. They are hired to harvest tomatoes and watermelons. But the main problem is that we, Europeans, haven't the right to steal human resources from Nigeria, Cameroun, Senegal, etc. ... we have to help them by creating jobs in their countries.

 

We get a day off on June 2nd, as Italian Republic Day is public holiday in Italy. This day commemorates 1946 referendum, when Italians decided the form of their government after World War II.

Reimposed restrictions

 

While Omicron variant was reaching almost 90 countries last month, some European countries reimposed restrictions and lockdown measures. Despite the virus is still spreading across the world, stocks and commodities have increased their value. I don't know whether to be scared or oddly comforted by that.

Experts say as soon as the epidemic goes to an end, many sectors of the EU economy, such as fashion, machinery and motoryachts, will rise sharply.  

I hope gas and oil's prices will not boost in 2022, as it may be dangerous in terms of employment and inflaction rate.

Low-taxes havens

As it is known, after many governments around the world had declared a state of emergency, citizens were encouraged to stay at home. As a consequence, since March 2020 an increasing number of people have been buying what they need online. And it seems unavoidable that many stores will permanently shut down. Unfortunately, the more big tech companies sell their products and services online, the more retailers shut down their businesses. The picture below shows an old shop whose owner had been selling olive oil and wine for decades. Since early march 2020 it has been shut down. 

The main problem is that big tech companies, such as Amazon and Google, shift their profits to low-taxes havens. And countries where revenues are earned haven't been allowed to tax big tech multinationals. That's why big tech companies can be very competitive and so able to destroy retailers around the world. In other words, they're destroying the middle class slowly and gradually.

In this perspective, two days ago in Venice, finance chiefs of the G20 large economies have just endorsed the first step of a plan to stop multinationals shifting profits to low-taxes havens. The deal would establish a global minimum corporate tax of at least 15%, as big tech companies would be taxed on where they sell products and services, rather than on the location of their headquarters.  

The more epidemic spreads, the more people need unemployment benefits

We all want to be rid of the coronavirus, of course, although EU's media are still talking about a third wave. Furthermore, another partial lockdown may continue to destroy small businesses, such as restaurants, cafés, clothes retailers, and other small businesses, while Wall Street’s analysts are still busy finding the stocks that are primed for gains in the next 12 months. As a matter of fact, since April 2020 we have already seen a sharply rise of some companies listed on the stock market, such as of pharmaceutical, electrical car makers, and biotech. 

In this cloudy perspective, there is a great talk about rising tax with the aim of increasing public services and unemployment benefits, considering that since March 2020 many people have been loosing their job. Some countries in Northern Europe, such as Sweden, Iceland, and Denmark, are known as having a high standard of living and social security, which their taxes help to pay for. Those countries  have a progressive tax system, meaning that people with a higher income pay a higher percentage of taxes than people with a lower income. Therefore, a large proportion of tax money goes into education, health care, parental support, unemployment benefits, etc.   

The good thing is that people who live in those countries don't even think about how much taxes they pay, because they say their tax system works very well. Clearly, those resources are going to be used by everyone in the population. On the contrary, cut taxes measures could have an impact on the society, as most people trust the public sector is able to do good things with their money. 

The four pictures below were taken in 2019 by a friend of mine, Stefano, who went in Sweden for job.

 

It's a nightmare for both tourists and companies

While many tourists were demanding their money back between January and July, seven and half millions of flight were cancelled.

Since the second quarter this year there have been fewer jobs in the companies that design, manifacture, and sell airplanes, and some big companies based in the Middle East, such as Emirates,  Etihad, and Qatar Airways, have announced job losses and pay cuts of up to 50%.

The last three pictures I took while I was travelling by plane last year:

                                           Stromboli island (South Italy)

                               Bracciano lake (Central Italy, 30 km north from Rome)

I love travelling by plane above the clouds. Plane pilots sometimes do so because of less resistance in the atmosphere.

Food and drinks on the cobblestones

With regards to the coronavirus epidemic, the Italian Government has recently issued a new legislative measure, which allows coffees and restaurants owners to put their tables and chairs on the cobblestones. According to social distancing rules, entrepreneurs will serve drinks and food along the streets, alleys and squares, if their coffees and restaurants are located in pedestrian areas. 

I hope this new legislative measure may help both employers and employees. 

Naples' aerial images

Since Sunday, 25 October, people in Italy haven't been gatherings along the streets to protest against new lockdown measures. Actually, entrepreneurs, retailers, and representatives associations are still afraid they couldn't be able to reach their goals in order to maintain employment. 

Here below there're two aerial images of Naples, the Italian town most hit by COVID-19 second wave. Although Naples is located in a developed country, it is a town where there are many informal labourers, who are suffering the most. 

Many people around the world have been displaced, and many of them have been living in countries that are suffering from conflicts. We also have in some places a combination of drought related to climate change, conflicts and economic crisis. In this context, lockdown measures, closed borders, curfews, and travel restrictions have disrupted global food supplies and incomes. I Hope the number of new infections will decrease soon, because it is not something the poorest communities can deal with.

Remote working: boundaries between work and personal life

        

The image above shows a view of Naples, South Italy, where there have been about 700 new coronavirus cases a day since the first week of October. With over one million deaths and 37 millions infections, the virus is still spreading rapidly worldwide.

 

While countries across the world impose new restrictions and struggle to tackle a new surge of infections, many companies and institutions are pushing their employees to adopt remote working model. Governments across Europe are also issuing measures with the aim of encouraging remote jobs, which are on the rise all over the world. Actually, many companies had already adopted remote working before the epidemic began to spread in early 2020.

In this context, people who work remotely have to build their mental structure related to the new working model, considering that sometimes there is no clear end to the workday. Actually, many psychologists see that one of the most important issue for employees is that a clear disconnection is needed. And with regards to mental structure, it is essential to switch working from home, because work time tends to extend in private life.  

The problem is that many people, who have been working remotely since Covid19 began in early 2020, are still unable to create boundaries between work and personal life. For instance, people shoudn't cook or deal with their dishwasher while they are sending emails or reading documents related to their job. 

On the contrary, rather than attempt to reconcile work time and private life, we  have to establish boundaries between them. In this perspective, it may be helpful dressing for the office, instead of working in pajamas or replacing the shift that happens when workers commute to and from the office.

                       

                                                                                

                                                                                                          

The four pictures above show places, located in small villages, where I would like to work remotely, from home.