Remember, how in life, people say: “it’s the little things that make life great”. In this case, it’s the little things that make life a complete clusterf*ck. If the next picture is so blatantly shown to the public, just what happens behind close doors?
The next list shows bus fares from the city of Zagreb to the town of Novalja on the Adriatic Coast. The foremost right numbers are the prices represented in the local currency – HRK (1$ = 5,5 HRK). The “J” stands for the price in one way, while the “AR” stands for a return ticket. 202 HRK is a one way ticket to Novalja, while students, the blind pay 134 HRK and small children 104 HRK for one way. 202 HRK, 300 HRK and 241 HRK are paid by children, adults and students and the blind respectively. The bus ticket purchased for a return trip is valid for 180 days.
This is all fine, if not for the yellow bolded part I highlighted. The highlighted part reads: Parliament members pay 6 HRK= 1,2 dollars. And this was decided by the Parliament.
So, I wonder, in the aggregate and in at the margin, how much am I subsidizing these royal individuals? Well, it depends on the average price on the average bus fare for all citizens. And, since its law, all carriers are FORCED to subsidize these passengers. This means an explicit marginal loss for the carrier.
Brilliant.
0 Rezervacija. 6,00
1 Karta za 1 SMJER 202,00
1000 ZASTUPNICI u HRV.SABORU ! ( odluka Sabora ) 6,00
1035 J / 35% / STUDENTI, +65 god., SLIJEPE OSOBE! 134,00
1072 J / 50% / DJECA 5-10 g. 104,00
5072 AR / 50% / 60 D/ DJECA 5 -10 g. 202,00
5329 AR / 25% / 60 DANA 300,00
5330 AR / 40% / 60 D/ STUDENTI,+ 65 go.,SLIJEPE OSOBE ! 241,00
LEGENDA: J - Jedan smjer, AR - Povratna karta, 180 D - Vrijedi 180 dana, X-ica - Studentska iskaznica
Very interesting indeed. But what I would like to know next is does the Croatian government respect the private property rights? If so, problem solved :) Any business should have the right to discriminate and refuse service to anyone as it pleases.
OdgovoriIzbrišiI highly doubt that there is in place provisions that companies can discriminate. Usually, it is the other way around. Companies get fined for not providing a service to everyone, especially if someone can afford the good or service.
OdgovoriIzbrišiBut in this case, government imposes a law on the supplier of the service and to keep the supplier from going bankrupt, pays a subsidy, which can be under or overshot.