Back to the numbers

Not that it’s my main focus, but it’s what people talk about here—and increasingly in the USA—and I strayed from it last week: economics.

It’s all about the “duckets”, “moolah”, “dolari”, euros, denari…You walk down the street here and listen to people’s conversations—usually being vocally held under shop awnings, on street corners, over coffee—and it’s about money. It’s hard to say whether it’s a legacy of socialism or just a southern European cultural trait. I’d vouch for the latter, because I’ve heard conversations in other Mediterranean countries as well, more so than in the US or W. Europe. But I’d say that the replacement of the socialist “pretend to work and we’ll pretend to pay you” by the free for all of the free market has made money-making for some, and observation of it for most, into the conversation of habit.

The combination of patronage with corruption and the association of criminality with those earning money makes for some interesting assessments of the free market indeed. That is, I think money is the topic of conversation because people either find you criminal or regal for having it. There are those I know from certain good old families who get given “something extra” (extra money!) at the money exchange bureau (which are very common here, since many people get paid in or keep euros, even though it’s not the currency used here) or just get things done by giving small gifts to the right people. And then there are those who seem to have profited through some ingenuity and perhaps even entrepreneurialism who get labelled as swindlers. No doubt some of them are, and that French President Sarkozy may have it right that capitalism needs to be regulated, but it makes you see how different we perceive making money/earning an income in the US.

We keep our salaries and stock options secret, allowing some to earn more than they should because no one can point their finger and say—“wow, that’s exorbitant!” (Well, we can for some but it’s taboo and no one really listens. Though maybe with the plummeting economy someone will?) But perhaps it’s just that people from a former socialist country like Macedonia are nostalgic for the “work ethic” of yore, and loathe the fact that in business you don’t get what you deserve, but what you negotiate.

But costs are relative too. Certain products/commodities are priced because of economic laws of supply and demand. Others, however, are luxury goods; or at least are marketed as such and thus carry an unworthy price tag. We have more of the latter in the US because businesses spend more on marketing and there’s been more money to go around no doubt. But what I’ve done over the last few weeks is keep tabs on some costs, and have seen that while most things are cheaper here, others are quite the opposite. While it doesn’t reflect how much these costs add up for Macedonians (because they don’t earn what an American does on average, far from it!) I’ve converted the prices to dollars. But when you see my hourly teacher wage at bottom—which is twice what many Macedonians earn, if they’re lucky enough to have a job—you’ll get a better idea how life is here for the many less fortunate.

Dozen farm-fresh eggs $2

Gallon of milk $4

Feta & white cheese $3-4/lb

Ground beef $2.50/lb

Good deli meats $3/lb

Loaf of good bread $.75-1.00

Bananas $.75/lb

Litre of local fruit juice $1.25-1.50

Dinner at local restaurant $5-7 per person

Good pizza at pizzeria $6-8

Flaky meat & cheese pastries $1

Cappuccino $1.25-2

Cake/dessert $1-2

Ten minute taxi ride $2-3

New bike tire tube $3

Gas $7/gallon

Samsonite umbrella in mall $60

Cheap umbrella on street $2

Bodum French Press $65

“Dzezva”—local coffee

maker $4-5

Haircut $3-4

Rent for 1 BR apt in Skopje $200/month

Room in villa on Lake Ohrid $30/night

Private boat ride on lake $3.50

My pay for teaching $7.50/hour!