Is this crazy ? Or: Is this crazy.

What is this ? Lunacy ? Or just simple stupidity ?

At the very least it is a clear sign that Governments of all levels should stay out of “business”.

Research by the reporter Andrea Bergman of the “Kleine Zeitung” revealed (issue 4th January 2016) the following:

In several (32) of Carinthia's communities, developers refused to build additional apartment buildings, since, according to their market studies, there was not sufficient call for those.

The elected officials, mayors and sundry economic miscreants, insisted that new apartments were to be built in order to prevent young people from leaving the Municipality.

In order to convince the developers to build such unneeded accommodation they promised to pay the rent for any empty units, in some cases under contracts lasting for 99 years.

Some of these contracts date back to the 1960 and only recently did one of the mayors speak up, after having received an invoice for “vacancy payment guarantee” for three apartments in the amount of €38,000 (Can.$55,100.-)

As stated above, the reason for such lunacy, for such gambling with tax Euros was “to keep young people from leaving the respective community.”

Even the most perfunctory, the most superficial use of whatever counts for brains in these mayors' chairs, should have revealed that young people leave their home communities in search for WORK and not in search for comfortable accommodations.

These empty apartments are, so it is revealed, heated with expensive electrical energy, are old fashioned in design and are further burdened with drafty windows and other deficiencies.

Now, one of the mayors demands that the Province (Carinthia ) must find a Province-wide solution to this boondoggle. These empty units, almost ruins, he demands, must be refurbished and made “renter attractive” and no further subsidies are to be paid for the building of new accommodation, until all now empty units are rented.

Now, after having paid collectively probably hundreds of thousands of Euros in “Vacancy-Guarantees” they come up with the brilliant idea which private enterprise told them 50 years ago:

“Do not build unless the market demands it.”

Do not produce widgets or submarines until there is a buyer.

So, please tell me: “Who pays for this lunacy?”

As always: “The Taxpayer”