PALLADIUM Magazine
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Factories and offices will always generate far more wealth than hotels and restaurants. Growing tourism is a sign of economic stagnation not dynamism. Europe needs to learn: no country ever got rich off tourism—nor will stay rich. Read the new article by @mmjukic (link below):
Must read article by @mmjukic x.com/mmjukic/status…
Tourism means becoming a nation of unskilled landlords and servants. It is not a path to prosperity, but a cope for its absence. It will worsen, not fix, the problems of Southern Europe and, as they get poorer, other developed countries too. My new article in @palladiummag:
Here is the article: palladiummag.com/2023/07/13/don… @wolftivy @palladiummag
Marko proposes a thought experiment: how many tourists are needed to make a small trendy tourism hotspot like, say, Croatia, as rich as Switzerland? In short: more than the whole U.S. population every year as tourists plus 2 million low-wage laborers from India and elsewhere.
Running Croatia on tourism would be harder than this. A daily spend of $200 means turnover. For GVA, subtract intermediates like fuel/drinks. The value-added ratio for leisure is 60% ($120 per tourist night). This means 3.22 billion nights to be on par with Switzerland.
Marko proposes a thought experiment: how many tourists are needed to make a small trendy tourism hotspot like, say, Croatia, as rich as Switzerland? In short: more than the whole U.S. population every year as tourists plus 2 million low-wage laborers from India and elsewhere.
Tourism is not a viable path to prosperity! Example: Croatia’s 17.4 million arrivals in 2024, would need to jump to 395 million for the country to be as wealthy as Switzerland. Fact: Industry is the ONLY known path to wealth for relatively large population countries
Some European countries are now more dependent on tourism than Dubai is on oil, and most of Southern Europe is more tourism-dependent than Germany is on exporting cars. Yet, Jamaica and Fiji are not rich countries. Is this a good trend? Link to article: palladiummag.com/2025/07/18/no-…
This paper should be a must-read for American city managers—many are overfocused on tourism b/c it juices local economic numbers and taxes. But the broader benefits are limited: see Chicago and LA, both dying cities that are fun for tourists
Some European countries are now more dependent on tourism than Dubai is on oil, and most of Southern Europe is more tourism-dependent than Germany is on exporting cars. Yet, Jamaica and Fiji are not rich countries. Is this a good trend? Link to article: palladiummag.com/2025/07/18/no-…
Great piece. This topic is widely discussed in Europe and - particularly - Italian politics, with northern-Italian politicians focusing on industry development, trade and innovation, while southerners talk about Italy being a "tourism superpower." Nonsense.agenzianova.com/en/news/meloni…
Tourism means becoming a nation of unskilled landlords and servants. It is not a path to prosperity, but a cope for its absence. It will worsen, not fix, the problems of Southern Europe and, as they get poorer, other developed countries too. My new article in @palladiummag:
Factories and offices will always generate far more wealth than hotels and restaurants. Growing tourism is a sign of economic stagnation not dynamism. Europe needs to learn: no country ever got rich off tourism—nor will stay rich. Read the new article by @mmjukic (link below):
“governments which actively destroy past artifacts for ideological reasons, such as the Taliban, Islamic State, or Australia” (!!!) I recently spent a month researching and writing about the politics of Australian archaeology. It was quite hard... and depressing
Our version of archaeology won't necessarily endure because of its superior complexity or of our superior wealth and technology. Even today, from Italy to Australia to Brazil to the U.S. itself, political and financial priorities easily overrule the interests of science.
A sad thread on why archaelogy's future is not guaranteed. Political ideology in the New World, corruption and security in the Mediterranean, resources extraction in the tropics. Note this article categorises Australia same as Taliban & ISIS in destroying artifacts. Shame on Aus
Archaeology is almost unique to our contemporary civilization, rather than universal. It is unlikely to be continued by future civilizations. We might know more about our ancestors than anyone will for a long, long time. Read the new article by @benlandautaylor (link below):