Word: swedishly
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Locals in Riga, the Latvian capital, have a favorite trivia question: what was the biggest city in the 17th century Swedish empire? (Hint: it wasn't Stockholm.) For centuries, the stately medieval port on the shores of the eastern Baltic Sea served as the bustling gateway between Russia and the West. Then, following World War II, it withered after the Iron Curtain fell across Eastern Europe, cutting it off from the outside world. But Riga is now experiencing a renaissance. It may not have re-established the prominence it enjoyed 400 years ago, but as any of its trivia-wielding...
...openness has had a visible effect in Riga. Jobs are plentiful and wages are rising fast: for construction workers, they jumped 50% last year. Prosperity is evident in everything from new Swedish hyper-markets, where parking spots are hard to come by, to the Italian cars rolling around the city's cobblestone streets. "If you want to do something, you have a future here," says Eri Esta, the 33-year-old chairman of a major stevedoring firm at the port. Esta, who graduated from a local business school in 2005, now earns a comfortable salary, takes vacations in Western Europe...
...global customer networks, strengthened the region's links to the outside world. And never underestimate the dumb luck of geography: 90% of the world's trade is still transported by sea, and the Baltic is the major marine waterway of Eastern Europe. At a recent meeting of Baltic states, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt joked that the region possessed in its various countries all the components of an ideal economy - the Baltics' pro-growth policies, Finland's gift for innovation, Norway's energy resources and Sweden's wealth of executive talent...
Even among the successful Baltic economies, some storm clouds are brewing. High growth rates have triggered fears of overheating, especially in the new democracies. Latvia's President Vaira Vike-Freiberga recently complained that Swedish banks are too generous with their loans, tempting Latvian consumers to load up on debt, and driving up the prices of everything from cars to property. Latvia's year-on-year inflation rate hit 8.9% in April, triggering devaluation rumors. Latvian loans are denominated in euros, so devaluing the national currency, the lat, would hit debtors hard. "Like any good party it has to come...
...being ethnically profiled? BARKIN: Yes, you are. I'm so happy there's another Jew in the room because when Steven isn't around ... CLOONEY: I hate to tell you, but Soderbergh is Swedish...