5 april 2011, the politics of everyone getting something

On the other side of the fence, I always wondered how a rich country like the uk could possibly claim a slice of regional funding which was always, in my understanding, intended to redistribute money to poorer eu countries where investment in infrastructure would pay massive dividends in building up the internal market, which the goods and services of those richer countries would be very much in line to fill. And how much more disparities were amplified when the new member states joined. Now, 43% of the eu's total output, and some 75% of investment in research and innovation is concentrated in just 14% of its territory, the pentagon between london, hamburg, munich, milan and paris. The statistics bear this out: whilst the top british region is some 343% of the european average, there are parts of bulgaria with gdp as low as 28% - which having been amongst horses & carts on main streets I can believe. It is of course a more shades of gray picture, with a quarter of eu regions below 75% of the average, including parts of the uk (like west wales); my own manchester is 102%. Now working for a uk city, the pressure of course is for the union to pay up and deliver here, and be seen to do so: it is seemingly a question of how much of our money do we get back (and how many little blue plaques can we show to prove it). Strange how perspectives shift depending on the angle you are looking at something from. Meanwhile, two days until the world's interest rate logjam is broken in frankfurt ? I think so.