I'm not a real estate agent. My blog is mostly for me and somewhat to give out information I consider essential to understanding this area and what you're most likely to find here. I do not promote living in Panamá. I think most people who want to live here are out of their minds, because they're simply not capable of adapting. They read International Living, or some other such rag, are stupid enough to believe developers (who make sharks look altruistic), and then come here after a 3 week vacation in the dry season. I sometimes wonder why I'm putting out all this info, because I know from experience that the people who need to listen the most will nod their heads happily, agree that they know this isn't the US, and then blithely proceed to act as if it is. You simply can not teach fools.
However, I seem to insist on clinging to the unreasonable belief, for which I have no proof, that if you lay out facts for people, they will act rationally and logically. All one has to do is read the political news from the US to have that silly notion blasted from one's head, but being an old (literally and figuratively) college instructor, I keep on trying.
Read my blog if you want to, but don't expect any help from me in finding real estate. Don't waste my time and yours by asking.
On a lighter note: I'm going to try, every morning, to put out a short post (hard to believe, I know) with a brief summary of what I find interesting in the Panamanian press.
Today: in La Estrella, a short piece quoting the president of the Rice Growers' Association here in Chiriquí as saying that the price of arroz de campo is going to go up due to the increased costs of production. According to Sr. Arúz, within a few months, the price of rice will increase 25 centavos or more (I have no idea per what). He says that the rice inventories in the country are low, and that there is a need for incentives for better distribution of rice for maintaining the supply.
Granted that the country imports a good deal of its rice. Still, the predicted price hike for Panamanian-grown rice is not good news.
From another article in La Estrella, Torrijos is supposed to announce today measure to support both producers and consumers with the high cost of living and of the canásta básica. this in response mostly to economists who are forecasting a possible crisis of inflation in Panamá.
Possible? The country has already been experiencing about 10% per year, if not more. I recently read about a 17% increase in the price of wholesale goods here in the country in April.
We'll see what Torrijos does. It's an election year, after all.
