International newspapers only write about Austria in their culture or travel section. If it does come up in the politics or business section, it's usually rather embarrassing.

Last weeks edition of The Economist had a fun (but sad, since true) sentence, stating that "the elan of Austrian business was stifled for many years by a bloated public sector, Kafkaesque bureaucracy and politicized boardrooms".

Examples of Austrias Kafkaesque Bureaucracy:

• Office Hours (Parteinverkehr): Mo, We, Thu 8-12am
• Tenant's rights (Mieterschutz): Enjoyed by renters, but dare you if you think about renting out yourself.
• Government Expenditure: 49% of GDP (that's 66billion Euro).
• Civil Servant (Beamte): Learn to deal with them (they make up half the employed population). If you need something, prepare compliments and little presents like a cake or wine.
• Documents (Akten) must be long and hard to read.
• Labor law (Arbeitnehmerschutz): Better not to hire.
• Community housing (Gemeindewohnung): Apartments which are partly paid for by the government. Mostly for civil servants or their closest relatives.
• ??? (Kommerzialrat): Someone who has been civil servant for a long time.
• Post office: To get the full Kafkaesque experience, try sending a letter to Asia on a Friday around 5pm.

*The impossible fight against government regulation and monopolies, as described in Franz Kafka's "Das Schloß" and "Der Prozeß".