Expat In Romania

Friday - March 20, 2020 What is there to say today? Romania up to 308 cases/ no deaths /31 recoveries. Meanwhile, I'm starting to think/see that the economic fallout could have more serious consequences than the virus itself. It is contagious? Does it kill? Would we all rather avoid it? Yes, categorically. But Italy is becoming to look like an outlier as far as the mortality rate - the only number people truly care about. Let's look at the numbers for the five most afflicted countries. China: 80,977 cases / 3249 deaths / 71,158 recoveries = 4.01% mortality rate and an 87% recovery rate. Italy: 47,021 cases / 4,032 deaths / 5129 recoveries = 8.57% mortality rate and a 10% recovery rate. Spain: 20,412 cases / 1,044 deaths/ 1,588 recoveries = 5.11% mortality rate and a 7.77% recovery rate Germany: 19,844 cases / 58 deaths / 180 recoveries = 0.29% mortality rate and a 0.90% recovery rate. Iran: 19,644 cases/ 1,433 deaths/ 6,745 recoveries = 7.29% mortality rate and...

Much the same way in which politicians are not the only problem in Romania, because there are voters on the other side of that coin, the businesses that thrive despite their sub-par products or services tend to survive only because they continue to retain customers who, in their ignorance, sustain a sub-standard offering. Romanian businesses have come a long way over the past several years. Owners are now looking outwards and willing to invest (a bit) in branding and marketing, they make an attempt at differentiation beyond the price point, and they at least pretend to pay lip service to the notion of customer service. The resulting increase in competition has left the businesses who do not adapt in an an existential limbo, with an archaic business model focused on being everything to everyone but in reality being nothing to nobody. I say that these business are in a limbo because they continue to exist while, in developed markets, most would have died out long ago. We can credit t...