Bulgaria is the world’s fastest-shrinking country

Post by Iwan-Zotow » Fri, Oct 04, 2019, 2:55 AM UTC

slavoingilizov wrote: post #124

Iwan-Zotow wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> First one is that up until 1989, Bulgaria was largely an agriculture state where did you get this nonsense? FYI, you've got 6 (SIX!) nuclear reactors build during those times 0 since 1990

What proportion of the GDP before 1990 was from power production then? Your argument is anecdotal. Those reactors were vanity projects, not big contributors to economy.

Post by alt_f4 » Fri, Oct 04, 2019, 8:47 AM UTC

alt_f4 wrote: post #310

dimitar wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BG has problems, but it is not a kleptocracy.

For example, all infrastructure contracts are rewarded to a select few companies. These companies charge outrageous rates, building highways and bridges etc. at some of the highest rates per km in the EU, all the while these roads end up with significant technical problems just 2-3 years into exploitation, due to poor work and, more importantly, the use of lower quality than the spec materials (outright fraud), all t…

Post by jsweojtj » Fri, Oct 04, 2019, 3:11 PM UTC

johannes1234321 wrote: post #253

jsweojtj wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubted that "many" expats give up their US citizenship so I tried to find some numbers. Found some secondary sources like: https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2018/05/14/fewer-ame... which states that, worldwide, just over 5,000 Americans renounced citizenship in 2017. There are also about 9 million Americans living abroad and ~1 million living in Europe. So, no, I don't think that even if all 5,000 were in Eu…

How many of these " ~1 million living in Europe" are with the US Armed Forces? (Be it as service member, spuse, family) Quick research: Kaiserslautern Military Community has ~50k people. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiserslautern_Military_Comm... Now that's the largest, but by far not only location with US Military presence in Europe.

Post by edoreld » Sat, Oct 05, 2019, 1:57 PM UTC

alipang wrote: post #80

cpursley wrote: post #25

A side effect of a stagnant economy and population shrinkage is that Bulgarian property is really cheap. You can purchase a modern flat starting around $15,000 (or rent for really cheap) in a ski community with a very strong remote worker presence (Bansko). If you do this right, you can also become a resident and benefit from a flat 10% income tax which is lowest in the EU. No affiliation; I just find this type of ar…

I have a company in Bulgaria while working remotely for a high-salary EU country, and it's almost shocking to realise how much you spend on taxes in most European countries when you see the difference in your bank account. It's quite a good deal if you want to be a digital nomad since it's an EU country and you can get a really small apartment for almost nothing to use as your official address while travelling. (You'…

Post by Iwan-Zotow » Mon, Oct 07, 2019, 6:09 PM UTC

axegon_ wrote: post #318

Iwan-Zotow wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nuclear reactors contribute very little to the job market. that is not the point. Point is, it was contributing for years with good paying jobs, well-educated folks etc. Since 1990 - nothing. > few people were allowed to pursue the more prestigious careers Like gasp nuclear engineer? Yeah... > On top of that you couldn't pack your bag and move to a bigger city without a permission of the authorities. Really? It was…

> that is not the point. Point is, it was contributing for years with good paying jobs, well-educated folks etc. Since 1990 - nothing. Providing say 1000 good paying jobs... In the same way Chernobyl did, and look at how well that ended. Since 1990 - a large number of mid sized software companies have shown up, each of which has employed more than that. > Like gasp nuclear engineer? Yeah... Let me think of how many n…