The Economic Situation in the Baltics

[Blaupanzer]

Russia is apparently planning on "saving" the Baltics by forcibly repatriating them to keep "order." This may be Putin's test of Obama. Or he may try the same thing in Ukraine. Doubt he'll go after all four at once.

Soldiers being used to bring "order" and by the way collect massive debts. Buying off foreign governments by promising that the new occupiers will assume the bank-related portion of now "pacified" nation's debts. Does all this sound familiar? Putin is a careful student of modern successful propaganda.

Might want to get out of ther Solver while you can.

[Dinner]

Latvia is in a crappy situation now.

They should beg Finland to take them over.

[Barnabas]

Perhaps Russia could help them.

[Blaupanzer]

As long as they don't notice the foot on their neck, I'm sure many would appreciate the return of order.

[Solver]

If things continue as they are, there may well be a new government, or at least major changes in the government, before this thread is gone from view. Should it get really hairy, I hope that Dan has an Apolyton refuge set up in Canada

[VetLegion]

I'm in. Canada is a bit coldish, but it will suffice. Where do I send my CV?

By the way, I just read that a computer expert in Latvia gets about 800 euros at the moment. That's not bad money. I mean it's not much but unless you have a mortgage it should be enough to survive.

[onodera]

I'm in. Canada is a bit coldish, but it will suffice. Where do I send my CV?

By the way, I just read that a computer expert in Latvia gets about 800 euros at the moment. That's not bad money. I mean it's not much but unless you have a mortgage it should be enough to survive.

Unless you have a mortgage or a family.

[snoopy369]

A computer expert in the States gets... six figures? Depends on how expert and in what, I guess...

[Solver]

That would even be closer to a computer expert who's just graduated / started a job. The average salary for IT people / programmers would be higher. And yeah, for now at least, computer people are somewhat less affected by the trouble, except for those who work in state institutions, where all salaries were cut and layoffs are also happening rapidly.

[Solver]

A computer expert in the States gets... six figures? Depends on how expert and in what, I guess...

That 800 number would be per month, not per year, of course. Yep, 10k Euros a year is definitely a lousy job in America but over here it'd actually be above the average wage.

[VetLegion]

But let's not forget taxes and pensions. The quoted 800 euro figure is net after all deductions. Average guy at Google, Microsoft or similar doesn't get six figures. Last I looked it was about 80 000 (gross) for non-managerial positions. That was pre-crisis. When you do some approximate calculations it comes out as about 2000-3000 euros net per month. Compared to 1000 in Latvia or Croatia it is better, but not out-of-this-world better.

[Solver]

Well, yeah, if you're talking after the deductions, that's quite realistic. You can definitely live on that... of course, the real problems are for the many workers who get paid maybe 500-some Euros, and that's before taxes.

[Sandman]

Why don't the Baltics merge into one country?

[Agathon]

Don't worry if the country goes bust, Solver. If there's no electricity, then you can hang a fat banker from a lamp post and set fire to him. They provide a reasonable amount of illumination and you'll probably only have to change them once a day.

[Agathon]

Why don't the Baltics merge into one country?

Yeah, they should bring Russia in, and give it a new name, like "The Soviet Union".