The Maltese economy and other papers

The three papers presented in this book are not directly related to each other since they were written for different purposes. The first paper was used as an introduction to my Ph.D. thesis on the Maltese labour market, the second was the text of a lecture given to sixth-form students, and the third was the text of another lecture, given to the general public. The principal reason for publishing them together in one volume is that it is cheaper to print them this way rather than individually. Also, although different in style and content, the papers have some thing in common in that all three papers can be read and understood by persons who do not have a specialised knowledge of Economics. Although the results presented in the text required a considerable amount of computational work, the reader is not burdened with detailed technical explanations. The three papers may also be of use to students sitting for Matriculation examinations in Economics, which require a knowledge of certain aspects of the Maltese economy. Literature for this purpose is not at present very abundant. This volume could provide a source of reading material in addition to that found in Economics textbooks, which usually focus on theoretical and applied aspects related to the British or the U.S. economy. I would like to record my gratitude to the Council of the C.M.T.U. and in particular to its president, Mr. Salvino Spiteri for the help I received in the publication of this book. A word of thanks also goes to the typist of the manuscripts, and to my family for putting up with the long hours I devote to Economics.peer-reviewe