Final Word from Tuesday, October 30, 2012
MP Petr Gazdík of TOP 09/STAN told Czech TV that mandatory
spending accounts for 80% of the Czech budget, leaving only
about Kč 200bn to fight over. This is a common refrain, used
over and over again by politicians, although the percentage is
sometimes lower. Cutting government outlays isn't so easy,
politicians chime in unison, because all that mandatory spending
is required by law. What is hardly ever mentioned is that about
80% of average household budgets are also made up of
"mandatory" spending. These are items that normal families have
very little room to influence if they want to lead a modern life
and keep up with the Joneses. These include not only taxes,
social charges and all kinds of government fees, but also water,
electricity, natural-gas, motor-fuel, rent, telephone, internet and
banking charges. These are the sectors of the Czech economy
where the big money is being made. If consumer spending is
falling in other sectors of the economy, it's because there just
aren't enough crumbs left over for everyone else.[Czech Republic utility utilities fuels]
Glossary of difficult words
crumb - a small fragment of bread, cake or cracker; a very small amount of something;
refrain - a repeated line or number of lines in a poem or song;
outlay - an amount of money spent on something;
to chime - to be in agreement, to harmonize;
to keep up with the Joneses - to try to emulate or not be outdone by one's neighbors.