Latching on to some externally- produced report to draw conclusions with regard to Malta is another of those unfortunate practices that many Maltese journalists happily and also unanalytically indulge in.

The Times of Malta leader of July 23 referred to the World Bank’s Doing Business Report. It is one report among several which I have often been very wary of giving undue importance to, for various reasons.

For one thing, populistic ranking of countries in this sort of league table, without then concurrently also seeing where any country ranks on a wider series of social and democratic (including freedom) variables, is, to my mind, a recipe for making wrong conclusions about the progress, or otherwise, of any country.

One should not just look at the placing of any country on any specific scoreline without also asking questions.

For example, if Malta ranks bottom of the pile in terms of “ease for getting credit” would that not also suggest the existence of a lending class that places serious analysis of a borrowing proposal, prudence and caution, before other considerations, and, in the process, helping the country to get brilliantly through the recent banking mess-ups we’ve seen all around us in Europe and elsewhere?

Not ranking with the frontrunners for things such as “dealing with construction permits” isn’t something to be shedding any tears about (in a country where environmental ugliness is constantly on the rise). Such a gauge is, if anything, indicative of welcome cautiousness.

To present such a report as something which we should all keep on top of our desks, to inspire our decision-makers in all that they do would be a great national policy fallacy.

This is just another of those many reports meriting caution, a lot of nous and pragmatism. It simply isn’t as important as the leader of Times of Malta seems keen to make it.