If only Apple managed Europe....

"If governments were like Apple" muses Hospodářské Noviny following the announcement by the computer giant that, for the first time in 17 years, it will be paying out dividends to shareholders. "Apple,” the Prague business daily reminds readers, “has accumulated nearly $98 billion in cash and so has become rather a rare bird, and not just on the securities market."

Up till now, shareholders profited from their shares only if they sold them. This strategy has helped Apple become the largest company in the world based on market capitalisation. "It is unfortunate that the 'managers' of many developed countries haven’t taken a similar attitude," laments Hospodářské Noviny, citing the extravagant behaviour of European governments -

They obviously let themselves be carried away by the economy based on debt, which is somehow more attractive than an economy based on profit. It’s easier to pay out benefits and watch how the following government (from the opposition benches) will pull through. It's like calling in a dietician and, over a well-heaped plate, asking how to lose weight. [...] Apple is thinking of paying out about a tenth of the money accumulated. What government can boast of such numbers?