Editorial: That was the year that was

As we ring out the old year tonight, we can look back and see how momentous this year has turned out to be.

Many will undoubtedly point to the Brexit decision by the British electorate and the Donald Trump election in the US as being the two most important events in the year.

These two decisions by the peoples of the two countries were both unexpected and vastly predicted as the worst possible outcomes. Yet they happened.

Just over six months later, there has not been in the UK, the collapse that was widely predicted by David Cameron and his team. On the contrary, where a recession and a downturn was expected, the British economy has been buoyant and even flourishing since the British consumers took to spending and spending for all they could.

Maybe this happened because people expect most prices to increase in the new year so they hurried to purchase all they could at the prices of the past year.

Maybe too, as happens every time there is a popular consultation, people generally were happy with the outcome of the referendum and believe the Brexit decision will turn out to have been the best decision.

Others in Britain itself, especially in Scotland and Northern Ireland, are not convinced. The Brexit negotiations with the EU still have to begin and it promises to be a rough ride with no conclusion in sight.

The Trump election still has to begin to deliver since Donald Trump will only take office on 20 January. What we have seen so far has been some very surprising appointments made by Trump but we will only begin to see the results once Trump takes office and begins to steer the US in the direction he promised.

Here in Malta we can say we have had two very distinct trends. On the one hand, the economy continued to flourish, with lesser and lesser unemployment, with more people at work although wages at the lower end of the scale continue to have sluggish growth.

On the other hand, we have had an almost continuous series of scandals connected to key people in the administration. The government has exhibited a singular reluctance to take steps where scandals have been claimed and this continues to push the government into a corner which it never imagined being in.

With a year and maybe a quarter before the general election, we can expect the new year to be much the same as the one that went before it.

But that is still to be seen. Happy New Year to all, and if you drink don't drive and if you drive don't drink.

 

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