Thank you for this "on site" description. Unfortunetely i think the same is happening in most modern countries in EU. And like you said - unpopular political decisions would result in political suicide (none of our current politicians want to do that - they only care about themselves thus even more populist ideas)

If you think about moving to Canada - think twice - it has its own issues. Its better to know them before moving there.

The recession is comming taking big leaps. Dotcoms colapse - i just hope it wont be the trigger - still need few years to buy a house and get myself into opsition where i dont have to worry.