economy

“You don’t buy what you can’t afford” – Is that still the Czecho-Slovak golden rule? / “Kdyz nemas, tak nekoupis”- Je to stale Cesko-Slovenske pravidlo?

One of you, dear readers, recommended a very good, Czech/Slovak-related article from yesterday’s Chicago Tribune. The writer is married to a wife who has a Czech dad and a Slovak mom. He tributes her frugal, anti-credit card qualities to her CS roots. Read up about it right here (click here).

Do you think her frugality is still typical in the Czech/Slovak families? Are people against credit cards?

CZ: Jeden z Czechmate Diary ctenaru objevil (nebo spise objevila) moc hezky clanek z vcerejsich Chicago Tribune o ceske/slovenske setrive nature (clanek si prectete zde – klikntete zde).

Myslite si, ze tento protikreditkartovy (slovo?) postoj je stale jeste u ceskych rodin typicky?

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Tagged as: economy

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Only the disonest become rich in Czech? /Bohatnou v Cechach jenom darebaci?

Do only crooks get to drive the limos in the Czech Republic or can  honest and hardworking people become rich as well? The 2/3rds of Czechs lean toward the more pessimistic outlook, claiming that the rich became rich because they were using dishonesty and shady contacts instead of their competence.

Almost 90% of Czechs think  the differences between social classes have increased considerably in the last decade, yet the smart, honest and diligent members of the society are not part of the upper class. According to them it is actually the crooks who took that spot.

What’s interesting is that when the same question was asked 13 years ago, 80% of participants thought that smart and honest Czechs could become successful in their home country (what happened?).

The 2/3rds of the poll participants would handle this unfair situation by taxing the heck out of the rich people. They  (1/2 of them) would also  increase wages all across the country. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: economy, money, polls, statistics

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Potato nation out of potatoes? / Bramborovy narod nema brambory?

uhappy potato google imageThe Czech Republic covers luscious, fertile land which produces various types of fruit and vegetables. It may seem surprising to you (as it was  to me) that most of the produce is imported! For example, 51,000 tons of last year’s crop of domestic apples were exported, while 71, 000 tons of apples consumed by the Czechs came from abroad. This quite ineffective system weakens the local economy, increases the prices of local goods and the constant semi-truck movement across the border worsens the air pollution.

The Czech Republic is a potato nation (almost every other folk song is about potatoes) but strangely most potatoes are currently being imported from Germany and also Poland. As far a garlic grown in Czech goes, it is pretty much impossible to find it in the stores. Where does it come from? Over 80% of it comes from China (!!) which is 21,000 km away. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: ecology, economy

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How is Starbucks in the Czech Republic doing these days? / Jak se Starbucksu v Cechach vubec vede?

Starbucks google imageOK, so small (or excuse me, “tall”) coffee at Starbucks in the Czech Republic costs $3.00 (50 Crowns) which is about twice as much as in the USA and do you think people are buying it? YES THEY ARE! The Seattle-based chain is in fact doing so well that it is planning on doubling its stores in the former Eastern Europe over the next 5 years. Prague has 9 stores right now and 2 in Poland. The expansion is planned for other Czech cities as well as into Hungary and more of Poland. So while Starbucks is in the process of closing 600 poorly performing stores in the US, Eastern Europe may hold the company above the water.

The whole article about Starbucks in the Czech Republic can be found here (click here).

PS: Tak si predstavte, ze male kafe v prazskem Starbucksu stoji 50 Kc ($3.00), coz je tedy dvakrat vice nez co to stoji v US. Clovek by si myslel, ze obchod prodelava…ani nahodou! Starbucksuv profit totiz primo rozvkveta.  Tento Seattlovsky retezec planuje behem 5-ti let zdvojnasobit pocet obchodu v cele vychodni Evrope. Praha jich ma zatim 9, Starbucks se ale chysta take do dalsich ceskych mest, take do Madarska a do mensich mest v Polsku. Zajimave je, ze v USA se tomuto retezci moc nevede. V pristich 18 mesicich ma zavrit kolem 600-ti neprospesnych pobocek, tedy Evropske pobocky maji tuto potapejici se lod asi zachranit. Uvidime.

Cely clanek o Starbucksu v Cechach si muzete precist zde (kliknete zde).

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Tagged as: coffee, economy, Prague

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Now I know how to make a home-made laundry detergent! / Uz vim, jak se vyrobi prasek na prani!

bubbles flickr imageI was humbled by my American girlfriend the other day. On our walk we talked about some little clever things that would save us money in this current economical situation. Among other things, this is what she said:” Oh, and I almost forgot, I make my own detergent….”. I was looking at her with my mouth open, thinking “Excuse me, I thought that I am the more frugal one! I was brought up in a poor communist country!” And here she is, this cute California girl, making her own detergent! I thought that was awesome…She said that it saves a bunch of money, then she gave me a recipe and I decided to share it with with you. I don’t know, I just think that having that recipe on hand fits perfectly with our frugal Czech personalities. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: economy, practical

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“For the first time, the Slovaks are ahead of the Czechs in something,”/ “Poprve v zivote jsou Slovaci v necem napred pred Cechy”

Slovakian Tatras / flickr image“For the first time, the Slovaks are ahead of the Czechs in something- that is well worth whatever sacrifices.” says Roman Guta, a 35-year-old Slovak distributor of a dental equipment. Roman is referring to the fact that the Slovaks are now using Euros, which is something that the Czechs are afraid to do. Who is the wise one here? Thanks to the worldwide economical depression together with their fairly new usage of Euros Slovakia has become a very expensive country. Hence Slovaks are now forced to shop in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic where they take advantage of the relative streng of their newly minted currency. [click to continue…]

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Tagged as: economy, politics, Slovakia

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