The Economic Struggle

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10 days left. That's it. We leave Belgrade on the morning of the 11th day from now. This Dialogue has absolutely flown by, and yet we've still got about a dozen meetings and day trips planned. Today we covered two more meetings, both of which I loved. One was Ivan Vujacic, who was the Serbian Ambassador to the US from 2002-2009, has served as an economics professor and has held almost every post but president in the Serbian Democratic Party. The other was Ana Trbović, who is a rising star in one of the local private universities and also spent a fair amount of time in Boston, including a PhD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. I mostly loved these meetings because, at long last, economics was a focal point.

As both professors and many of our speakers have noted, economics are a vital part to stability and state building, but apart from that, the subject has mostly been glossed over. As an economics major, I of course looked for any opportunity to ask about the economic situation in the Balkan states. Spoiler alert: it's bad. Unemployment in the 30 and 40 percents, inflation stable around 2 percent, potential for debt piling up, and youth leaving rapidly. Even worse: education is cheap or free here, so these countries are essentially subsidizing other countries, as kids will get their education, then leave. In Serbia, also, the average family has 1.7 children. To simply maintain population, you need about a 2.2 average. As such, Serbia is aging and shrinking, providing bleak outlooks to the future.



The meetings today were spread out, so we had about a 3 hour break in the middle. Nick and I went up to a local restaurant, where two full meals ran us a total of $11 between the two of us. There are advantages to visiting economically troubled states besides just learning about them. Then we gathered in our teams to work on the assignment due tomorrow, which my team has now just about finished.



After the second meeting, I went for a run with Joyce to go explore the fortress some more, and grab a few photos since I remembered to bring my phone this time. A group of us then went to a sushi bar on the rooftop deck of a local 5-star hotel. Predictably expensive (offsetting lunch and then some), but glorious views, and, honestly, possibly the best sushi I've had. Ever. Absolutely amazing. After dinner activities comprised of poker, catching up on news, and nervously checking our grades for the first assignments we've been returned. But really, I don't think anyone is too nervous. While, yes, we are here to study, it's not about the grades. It's about the experience. It's about the culture. It's about the bonding.

And, for all but the four of us who are 21, it's about the earlier drinking age.

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