Tag Archives: hungary

Hungarian Rescue Plan

I must admit I didn’t know Hungary was until recently considered an economic powerhouse of Eastern Europe. My limited time there last week left me with neither the impression that it was an extremely well off country, nor the opposite.? At the same time I did notice plenty of construction projects seemingly left unfinished, and infrastructure (like public transport) that looked like it hadn’t received new investment since the 1980’s.

There was talk among Hungarians and expats that I met about the terrible economy, with many expressing that it hadn’t been that bad in a long time.? But even then it wasn’t obvious to me how bad it really was.

Today I read about the rise and fall of the Hungarian economy, and immediately following that, the plan to pump money into that economy.? Among the reasons for its fall? A government burning through alot of money and taking on alot of debt.? One of the lowest employment rates in Europe.

With the IMF’s 25.1 billion dollar bailout of the Hungarian economy, it isn’t clear – as is so often true with bailouts, if this will turn things around.? The term “tighten their belts” is thrown around alot.? Which begs the question, at a time when so many people are in need of help, where can the government afford to make deep cuts without doing harm to an already wounded citizenry.? Then again, I noticed Hungarians are tough, maybe tightening of the belt is precisely something they would be up for.

bmtv92 VlogEurope in Budapest

This is a not a vlog about a global problem or unreported issue.? Instead its a quick highlight film as part of a video entry for vlogeurope 08, which took place over the weekend in Budapest, Hungary.? Initially it was a Budapest A to Z film, but I scrapped that Idea around the letter P.? I think.

Being at the 4th annual vlog europe, an interesting and relaxed conference I’ve had the pleasure of attending since the first edition in Amsterdam, is always a great source of inspiration and affirmation of how far we’ve come as a community. The highlight of the conference had to have been the global online meeting where vloggers on 3 continents took turns speaking about their projects, their successes, their failures, the situation in various parts of the world, and of course – cracking some jokes.

Back to regular programming tomorrow.

bm159 Hungarian Political Lies

You may have seen images of angry citizens clashing with police on the streets of Budapest recently. But did you hear the real story of what happened and why the Hungarian electorate rose up? And what will happen from here, how will people, in the long run, feel towards a goverment that admitedly lied to them? A familiar theme in Eastern Europe and North America, Henrik of the blog Hungarian Accent helps explain was has happened and what can be learned from this.

Heres a Guardian article for further illustration

bm124 The Other Big Election in Europe: Hungary

Atop any list of underreported nations in Europe, Hungary has handled huge changes over the past 15 years. Henrik of the Hungarian Accent blog joins me to discuss Hungary: from the end of the communist regime, to joining the European Union, to the cold hard truth of what lies ahead for the Hungarian people.

AudioCommunique #124 (mp3)

Music:

K’Naan – In the beginning
Clap Your Hands Say YEah – Over and Over
Pink – Dear Mr. President

——
podcast made possible by you the listener and also Springheeljack.net