Saturday is my favourite day in Prague, because it's the farmer's market big day with live music, and the full complement of stalls, including my favourite, the sorbet stand. The best coffee in Prague is from the Hipster's coffee stand. The pastry lady has the best jam dohnuts for 8 Crowns or less than 50 cents. On a beautiful sunny morning it's a perfect way to have breakfast and chill out in the park along with the residents from the neighbourhood.
On the subject of markets, the Czech Republic is a member of the EU, but of course uses it's own currency, the Czech Crown. There are advantages and disadvantages of using the Euro. One is of course, what everybody has found out, is that you can borrow a lot of money. The Czech's have been quite smart and have low government debt of about 26% of GDP, whilst other European countries are 80% to over 100% of GDP. Their current economic growth is 2.4% much higher than 'old Europe'. They have ridden out the GFC quite well considering.
What I've noticed is that it's countries on the outside edge of the EU that are doing well; Poland, Czech Republic and Estonia. Even the United Kingdom is growing at a respectable rate. In September the Scots are going to vote on independence, which could go either way. Like I said there are advantages and disadvantages of being a small country. A small country well run can do very well in the global economy; The World is Flat' after all, as Thomas Friedman said in his great book of the same name. What it means is that capital is global, and both money and information can be moved with a tap of the keyboard. instantaneously. I'm writing this now from a cafe in Prague. In this new world many businesses can work from anywhere, and a product can often be made anywhere too. Shipping costs keep getting lower, currenlty about $2,000 to ship a shipping container (TEU) to Asia, but with new giant container ships being built that may drop to $1500. In practical terms that means a flat screen TV costs maybe a few cents to ship. That's presuming you can get your goods to a port, so infrastructure is vital to whether a country can compete in the global economy. One smart thing Australia has done recently is invest in infrastructure, including a second Sydney airport, so we mave both people and freight efficiently, which means we can compete globally. An additional advantage is being a stable democracy with strong property rights based on English Common Law, and being in the fastest growing region in the world. It is a disadvantage being a landlocked country like the Czech Republic, but Germany is their biggest trading country and it has excellent infrastructure with autobahns, high speed rail, and a modern cotainer ports like Hamburg.
The Czech Republic is still getting considerable Foreign Investment with many companies investing, most recently Bell Helicopters have announced they are setting up a European head office in Prague. By assembling products in the Czech Republic you can get around the EU Tariff of course. It's a good place to set up a business being next to the number one economy in Euope, Germany. There is a large Expat community from all over the world in Prague, and increasingly from the United States. It's not bad gettng posted to Prague, because there is so much to do, although winter may be tough. Living costs are definitely lower, so you can save some money.
Germany, which I visited on Friday (the blog post is going to be long), see themselves as competing globally, which of course they are. German companies like Allianz and Siemans are true multinational companies, and Siemans in particular is building much of the infrastructure in the Asia Pacific region.
In a sense every country and every business has to now compete globally as Friedman strongly argues in The World is Flat. Investment in education, Research and Development, infrastructure, training and modern production techniques like Smart Manufacturing are the drivers of productivity in this new world. Historians call this time a critical juncture in history, a new Industrial Revolution driven by information technology and globalised trade.
The Czech's are showing the world that it is possible to embrace the opportunities of this new world, whilst protecting and cherishing their own culture at the same time.
That's a good thing.
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I did promise to find out what the crawling babies mean. They are the work of controversial Prague artist, David Cerny, and the meaning is open to interpretation. One interpretation is that the babies symbolise the Czech Republic trapped in perpetual adolesence and held back by totalitarian rule, or that the people are somehow not fully grown. Or it could mean that something completely new, a newly born society in other words, that hasn't found it's own feet in the world. David doesn't really talk about his work, so I guess it's open to the public to make up their mind.
However, my interpretation is that the Czech people have to be like a child and see the world afresh with new eyes, without prejudices and not be slaves to the past, but embrace the opportunities of the present. It's a very Zen interpretation.
Recommended Reading
Friedman, Thomas, The World is Flat,
Why Nations Fail: the Origins of Power, Prosperty, and Poverty - the importance of institutions like independent judiciaries, secure Property Rights, democracy, separation between Church and State, and free enterprise to countries success in the global market place.
