Ten thousand teachers, really? (updated)

While government wants to bring about the change Latvian teachers, policemen, professors and the rest of public sector workers wait for news about the planned layoffs. From one ministry I heard confirmation about fifty employees sacked in ten minutes, but it was relatively small one. Huge layoffs should be expected in the most numerous ministries - interior, education, agriculture and finance. While civil servants wait and government work is almost frozen news just came about ten thousand teachers or one third of all Latvian teachers to be laid off by September 1, 2009. This is extreme news, and I would update on this news as soon as I would comprehend this number in comparative terms. Until then the Latvian public must simply survive the increasing rate of unemployment that ratcheted up in the first quarter to the 13,9 % annual rate, because otherwise Zemgus cartoon could turn out to be prophetic.

Text in Latvian: Lowest point of decline is being reached & got to climb up now!

Updated

Numbers I have had hold on are not reliable yet, but political developments have taken their own path. The Minister of Education and former undersecretary of the Ministry Mrs Tatjana Koke just sacked the incumbent undersecretary Mr Mareks Gruskevics.

Wage cuts and economic slump

Just a small Gatis Šļūka cartoon for a weekend:-)



Text in Latvian: [Plaque on the wall -Saeima - Latvian Parliament] To save more money they all relocated to one of the closed mental asylums.

Latvian politicians only want to fill their pockets so far

The Republic of Latvia is experiencing the worst economic crisis. Almost half a year the topic of devaluation has whirled in academic circles and media. There is consensus that slimming of the burgeoning red tape and cutting wages by 50% would serve as an alternative form of devaluation. In the meantime odious former prime minister openly questioned ability of the present government and the Bank of Latvia (BoL) to contain the economic crisis, and speculated after the need to devalue the national currency - the lat.

Today the governor of BoL Mr Ilmārs Rimšēvics openly confronted the former PM and concluded that the irresponsible calls for devaluation are due to the fact that former politician wants to earn money on devaluation! It is the first time when the high ranking official in Latvia indirectly questions moral standards and wish of someone from officialdome to earn money from manipulating the state economy for his private profit. Would there be additional brave revelations similar to Mr Rimšēvics?