Journal

Rimsevics argues that the recession has dampened inflation so rapidly, that the country will soon fulfill the Maastricht criteria for joining the euro. However, Latvians are occupied with less amusing considerations. Tractor driver Intis Tarakonovs for instance is currently unemployed and broke. Tarakonovs defaulted on the leasing payments on his car. The bank repossessed it leaving him with €16,000 debts. At a parking lot just outside the capital Riga, banks sell off their repossessed cars, tractors, construction machinery and trucks at rock bottom prices. The sales are advertised around the world on the Internet. In another humorous twist, Latvia actually exported more vehicles than it imported last year. Scandinavian banks are sitting on the majority of the €1.3bn worth of loan defaults.

Number Cruncher:

The total value of global art sales in 2009 came to €31.3bn. Demand for paintings by the Old Masters and the avante-garde remains undiminished. Yet that seemingly princely sum of over €31bn for fine arts is still 25% down on 2008, even if art sales in China and India rose sharply. The Chinese art market is now the world's third largest, after the US and Britain.