HOUSING

Owning a House? 96% of Romanians own their homes, while Austria’s and Germany’s rate ranks the lowest in the EU (see chart) only the swiss rent even more. Why is this figure so high in ‘poor’ countries and so low in ‘rich’ states? The basic need of humans for shelter  is the same all over the world, the differences in homeownership …

In Romania, between 2002 and 2007, the median price for an communist-era apartment rose by a factor of 10 (that’s plus 1000% !!) from 10’000 EUR to 100’000 EUR. For some modern apartments in central Bucharest, prices rose above levels of cities like Berlin or Paris. In 2007, I just arrived as a foreigner in this country. Thanks to the …

From a purely logical standpoint, it does not make a lot sense to buy a lottery ticket. In a 6/49 game, the probability of hitting the jackpot is 1:14’000’000 or about 0,00051 %. Still, millions play each week. ‘Irrational’ decisions led to the emerge of a field in economics called  ‘behavioral finance’ that explains why we humans tend to make wrong decisions on …