For reasons already explained, progress towards the attainment of a balanced budget over the medium term must at the same time also be a priority. Financing  8  Report entitled The 2009 Ageing Report: Economic and budgetary projections for the EU27 Member States (2008-2060), published by the European Commission and the Economic Policy Committee. BIS Review 60/2009  5  the necessary investment, therefore, represents a complex task. This is because some 65% of budgetary revenues come from cyclically-sensitive sources, essentially direct and indirect taxes, and current projections show that the recovery in Malta’s export markets, and therefore also in the domestic economy, is likely to be very slow. This means that the tax base will expand only moderately. As a result, the need to allocate more public funds to investment while at the same time reducing the deficit can only be satisfied if a major effort is made on the expenditure side. Here too, however, the task is complicated. This is mainly because about 69% of total budgetary outlays are in the shape of fixed commitments such as wages and salaries, interest on the public debt and welfare payments. Since increased taxation must be ruled out as an option, the solution must be centered on efficiency improvements in the use of budgetary resources and a reordering of spending priorities. In this context it should be noted that beyond 2013 Malta is unlikely to be eligible for EU funds to the same extent as at present.
Aldous Huxley who wrote the "Brave New World" in the 1930s believed technology and automation would put workers on the fast track for better pay, better hours, better relationships with bosses, and a better workplace environment. (I will let you be the judge of how far that is true today). Science-fiction writer and futurist, Sir Arthur Clarke, predicted in the 1960s, "a world in which we can be in instant contact with each other, wherever we may be, and that it will be possible for a man to conduct his business from Tahiti or Bali just as well as he could from London." This is certainly true today. In the 1980s, many predicted jobs that would be extinct and replaced by robots, such as cashiers, bank tellers, receptionists, servers, floor workers. Today, automation has changed these roles for sure, but it may interest you to know that only one occupation appears to have been fully eliminated in the last 60 years – and that is the elevator operator! 1/5  BIS - Central bankers' speeches  Roy Amara, American scientist and researcher, in 1982 predicted that the greatest changes to come in the workplace would be cultural. He said, "the workplace would be more cooperative than adversarial, and workers will want intellectual and psychological fulfilment, not just financial reward". Certainly, it could be said of hiring today that being part of a team that creates a positive impact on society and encourages emotional and intellectual growth, has strong appeal for job seekers.