It has been several decades since, on Badija, a small island near Korčula, where there was still a sports center at the time, one of the trainers at a coaching course advised the participants: ‘Do not always repeat the same training. Do not say the same thing at every address to the players. Let there be something new at every training session. If nothing else, bring a new ball!’
This recollection surfaced after reading a report in Slobodna Dalmacija that Prime Minister Andrej Plenković complained to members of his party at a gathering in Imotski that the media did not put the statistical office’s data on the growth of gross domestic product in 2024 of 3.8 percent on the front pages.
With politicians, it is often difficult to discern when they are genuinely disappointed and when it is a performance for the media and the general public. In this case, however, one can believe that the President of the HDZ and the Government is sincerely disappointed and offended that there is no reaction to the GDP growth of 3.8 percent. According to the old saying about the mother-in-law who ‘scolds her daughter (curses – ed.), complains to her daughter-in-law‘, Plenković, by criticizing the media, is actually indirectly criticizing the voters who do not reward GDP growth in polls, as the gap between the HDZ and the SDP has narrowed to 26.3 percent compared to 25.7 percent.
The Prime Minister has the right to be disappointed and surprised by the media and voters. But it would be useful to look at things from another angle. From that perspective, it could be seen that the Prime Minister himself may be most to blame for the ignoring of GDP growth data.
Allergy to GDP
Before attempting to argue the thesis of Plenković’s guilt, one must be honest and admit that, of course, it is better to be in the positive than in the negative. And yes, when it comes to the business community, we all have some benefits from GDP growth. Some less, some more. Memories of the six-year recession that began in 2009 still evoke the reaction in many: ‘Let it not happen again!’
Returning to the public’s ignoring of GDP growth, part of the Prime Minister’s blame lies in the constant, long since irritating, spending of half of every interview listing the successes for which his government is responsible. When he again starts reminiscing about GDP growth, even the most patient begin to search for the remote.
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For the average consumer of media content, the concept of gross domestic product (GDP) is actually difficult to understand. The definition that it is ‘a macroeconomic indicator that shows the total value of final products and services produced in the country during one year, expressed in monetary units’ does not help either.
One of the reasons for the allergy to mentioning GDP, if it is benevolently accepted that it is an important figure, lies in the individual’s feeling that this 3.8 percent growth is unevenly and unfairly distributed. Especially in smaller communities, it is known who profits more and who profits less from the upturn. Which companies are destined to receive government contracts, and which must navigate the market of non-government demand.
Ignoring the statistical data on GDP growth is also a consequence of the personal experience of how much inflation eats into part of the salary, pension. Or the costs that gnaw at the company’s business. Much has already been written about this and the fact that EU funds are the main generator of GDP growth and last year’s hazardous high wage growth in the public and state sectors. So there is no point in repeating it.
Business is not responsible?!
In understanding why the media, as a mirror of the state of society, ignored the news about GDP growth in Croatia, it is crucial that the Government, led by Plenković, attributes the record growth within the EU to itself and only itself. They secured funds from the NPOO, they implemented reforms that enabled growth. Employees in the real sector, managers, and entrepreneurs are not mentioned. There is not even gratitude to the civil servants who diligently implement the reforms. Here and there, when the Prime Minister or ministers find themselves at some sectoral gathering, the importance of this or that sector is appropriately emphasized. But even then, there is no sharing of credit for GDP growth. It turns out that all these years, employees in the real sector are at best responsible for the fact that GDP is not in the negative. The growth from zero to 3.8 percent is solely credited to the team from Banski dvori. No one else. So it is not surprising that there is defiance in the style of: ‘If you are the only ones responsible for GDP growth, we will ignore the fact that you are boasting.’
And when it comes to that ball from the beginning of the column, it would be useful for the Prime Minister’s future addresses not to always be the same self-praise. That common goals for politics, business, and society as a whole be set. If everyone feels responsible for GDP growth, the news will surely appear on the front pages of daily newspapers.
