Avenida de amoR

There is truth in what Paul Krugman touched upon in his post Nightmare in Portugal in that the Financial Times tends to portray a sad dramatic view of Portugal often illustrated with some cliché photo of a dunkey or old-man-on-bench-in-village. 

In this post Krugman relays to a recent article from Peter Wise, FT's longtime correspondent in Lisbon who chose to reflect on the present crisis through a circumscription of abandoned glory at the Avenida de Roma .............. my Avenida de Roma, the street I have been living in for 15 years as per tomorrow, the day my then wife and I got married  (female friends thought it was romantic, male friends called me stupid, but that was indeed 15 years ago).


Peter Wise happens to reside just around the corner from Avenida de Roma and whereas I can visualize his inspiration for the article when taking a stroll down the street on any Sunday afternoon today in comparison with "the good old days", there is much more than meets the eye, which is so very true for all of Portugal. 

We have seen old fashioned and trendy stores, family operated or multinational owned come and go over the years and I have always considered the "customer will come to us" attitude, whether in retail or otherwise, as an unsustainable threat, especially because it is so deep rooted in Portuguese commerce.

But, like Krugman hints, what is important is how we go about turning the tide. So here's another link; http://www.avenidaderoma.com/blog/ announcing an entertaining shopping night tomorrow, in a genuine attempt to remind a population on what life was like before a suburban sealed shoppingcentre tsunami invaded Portugal.

More importantly, the initiative is the result of a hands-on joint effort and investment by a varied mix of private business owners with little input from the public sector, seeking to undertake its share in micro-economics and therewith not relying too much on some possible future macro-economic policy change a government may or may not bring.

To be continued.