Slovakia, Slovakia, Slovakia

Slovakia, Slovakia, Slovakia

It would appear that this little country in Europe holds the key to either economic disaster or economic enslavement. The entire country of Slovakia has a population of a little over four million people and a workforce of maybe two million people. These two million people are now being asked to shoulder the debt burden of $5 billion as their share of the European recovery program. That does not seem fair to me.

This tiny country has a better GDP growth rate than the United States. It also has a population that is 99% literate. And I heard this morning, their tax rate is 19% for individuals and 19% for corporations, and the country is thriving in relative terms. Maybe we can all learn something from how this country is run.

GDP (2010 est.): $88.4 billion.
GDP growth rate (2010): 4.0%.
Nominal GDP per capita (2010): $16,288 (ING Bank).
Unemployment (2010): 13.5%.
Consumer price inflation (2010): 1% (Ministry of Finance).
Public deficit (2010): 7.8% GDP.