The government admits it doesn’t know exactly how many people work for it. That’s partly due to a history of haphazard hiring by politicians who have traditionally rewarded supporters with public-service jobs. A hiring spree in the month before the election brought in thousands of salaried “trainees” who have no posts and in many cases no office to go to, accoding to the finance ministry. Public servants often leave work at 2 p.m., and “many are doing a second job in the afternoon, very often without declaring their second income for tax,” says… the previous government’s spokesman.
As I’ve been saying for a while now, the Wall Street Journal is worth every penny of the subscription if you can afford it. Real journalism, every day.
Let’s just also say that I know of more than a few well-paid professionals who chose to receive raises or bonuses this year in the form of non-taxed expense accounts or non-salary off-the-books payments. Atlas is shrugging….