From: Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Fri Aug 08 2003 - 10:01:12 MDT
On Fri, Aug 08, 2003 at 02:34:16PM +0100, Steve Davies wrote:
>
> I can enthusiastically confirm this. I've just got back from a seminar in
> Bulgaria, which showed distinct signs of change from just a year ago. It is
> noticeable how the Balkans and East/Central Europe more generally is more
> dynamic and with more possibilites in many ways than Western Europe and
> Scandanavia.
As I told some of the participants, it is far easier to change
things when there is no huge superstructure already in place and
generally believed to the Best In The World (TM). When things are a
mess and nobody trusts the politicians, then people have an
incentive to form institutions and use technology in the most
efficient way possible. Once things are ordered, regulated and
reasonably good, the incentive vanishes.
>There's a real feeling of tiredness to a lot of the politics
> and thinking here, but I think this may well change with EU enlargement,
> which I increasingly think is one of those events that's going to have far
> reaching unforseen consequences for the rest of Europe. SD
Hopefully, yes.
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