Time is money
Today I realized one more way in which bureaucracy, especially like the one we live with here in Portugal, makes our lives more expensive in a less direct way (compared with taxes and such). You might not have noticed, but the official approval to build or rebuild a building around these parts takes forever. Which means, between the time someone or some company buys a piece of land to build on, or an old building to rebuild, and the time they can use or sell it, the initial capital spent on the acquisition, projects, and running costs has been tied down.
Who pays this increase in immobilization costs? The final customer, meaning housing and offices are much more expensive than they should be if the necessary official legal steps took a reasonable time. And who profits from it? The lenders – and the bureaucracy, who reaps even more taxes on the interest charged over the loans.
Painting with Light
This week’s photoassignment.net theme was “Painting with Light” which was chosen by João Rechena. I’m particularly happy with my photos this week, this is the first time since June that I’ve felt I’m getting into the old swing of things. You can see all the contributions to this week’s theme here.
