Who runs the business?

In his weekly column "Max's Column" for TBmagazine, Maxim Behar talks about the difficulties and changes in the Bulgarian economy and business and the only force that counts - experience.

The chaos in Bulgarian politics, and the huge "army" of amateurs, both in parliament and in the rapidly changing governments, leave the feeling that the economy can be managed with directives. Not a month goes by - and whoops, a restriction with decrees on these or those prices, just then someone pays to lower taxes on him too, because they already lowered them on many others, or someone else decides that some shops are making a cartel...

And so, little by little, even unnoticed by many people, the socialist notions that where the state rules it rules well, began to creep in. And because populism quickly settled in those who didn't want to think too much, the whole economy began to look manageable. Or - you order something to the business and it, like in the barracks, takes the trump card, and starts doing it. Lower the prices - listen up! Raise wages - I'm listening again!

The truth is that this administrative approach always leads to only one thing - collapsing the whole system and starting all over again. Because business can only be driven by the market, by supply and demand, by customers and their purchases. Anything else can only lead us to the coupon system, which - thank God - only one generation remembers anymore. And no one wants to get to know it again.