One of the most academically successful European economists, Filip Matějka, and popular economic and political commentator Lenka Zlámalová are behind the Treaty for the Czech Republic project.
“The media still has enormous power to set the agenda. Raise topics. But they don’t do that much. That’s why we thought we’d give it a try. That we will use the large impact of CNC media. AND we will try to involve people to tell the politicians themselves how they imagine their future. Put together a new social contract between people and politicians. Hence the name Contract for the Czech Republic,” states Lenka Zlámalová.
And he continues: “A similar project of the most influential German newspaper Bild, Contract for Germany, became the inspiration. It came at a time when Gerhard Schröder became chancellor during the crisis with the idea of stirring up the debate on how to return the economy to prosperity again. In the following years, Schröder’s government made some of the biggest reforms in Germany in decades. If something similar could be done here, it would be great.”
Show the politicians what the people expect
The aim of the Contract for the Czech Republic project is to get as many people’s opinions as possible and then confront economists, sociologists and politicians with them in debates. “We live in a time when political decisions are often influenced by public opinion polls. That is why we want to show politicians through them what people expect, especially in the areas of pensions, healthcare and education,” states Lenka Zlámalová.
The discussion on key topics such as pensions, salaries, social benefits, prices is currently fragmented into an incomprehensible chaos of lots of conflicting ideas and details.
“We wish everyone would focus on what’s really important and not get lost in minutiae that end up complicating political decision-making and worsening the outcome for the economy,” asserts Filip Matějka and points to the ongoing debate about the debt we have due to pensioners and whether the retirement age should be increased.
“But we never talk about the simple and most important thing: what for what. For example, about the fact that retiring one year earlier means that employees will have approximately CZK 1,200 less in net wages each month due to higher taxes. We should talk about this and then people will make a better decision about what to choose,” adds Filip Matějka.
What does the Treaty for the Czech Republic project also bring?
The Treaty for the Czech Republic project encourages citizens to take an active part in shaping the future of the country and use their voice to promote solutions that will lead to a higher standard of living.
The first topic is pensions, because we live in a time when the government debate on the reform of the pension system is expected. “We want to let people use the calculators published at www.smlouvaprocesko.cz and in the media they played with their ideas of what kind of pension they would like,” explains Lenka Zlámalová.
The Ipsos agency, which deals with work with data that serves as relevant basis for informed decisions, will also collaborate on the research.
Filip Matějka and Lenka Zlámalová: Who are the main faces of the Contract for the Czech Republic project?
- Filip Matějka is a Czech economist, professor at CERGE-EI, which is a joint workplace of Charles University and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. In his scientific career, he focuses on macroeconomics, political and behavioral economics.
- He received his doctorate at Princeton University in the USA, and then lectured at, for example, Harvard, Stanford, Oxford and Cambridge. He has received numerous international awards and his work is published in leading economic journals.
- In addition to academic work, Filip Matějka also engages in public discourse, where he focuses on the application of economic theories to explain the behavior of individuals and the state, and lectures on the complexity and impact of various political and economic measures.
- Lenka Zlámalová is a Czech columnist, economist and sociologist known for its critical journalism in the field of economics and politics, especially through commentaries and analyzes of current social issues.
- She has worked professionally in many leading Czech media, including MF Dnes, Respekt, Hospodářské noviny and Lidové noviny and the news server Echo24.
- She is currently the main commentator of the media house Czech News Center. Lenka Zlámalová also participated in the publication of economic books and is active as a commentator for Czech Radio and Czech Television.
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