The state budget as a scourge of politicians. Better have him build the AI

We have probably gotten used to the fact that everyone will never like everything. Even more so for the state budget. On the other hand, should people who do not participate in the approval of the items of the basic financial document of the state somehow care about what will or will not be in it? It’s not hard to find out that it certainly is. After all, the voters will get a clear overview on a “golden platter” of what the government’s priorities are, where the state wants to save, and where, on the contrary, it wants to spend, in what and why it wants to invest, or which social groups will have larger or less support. From the state budget of the Czech Republic for next year, it is clear that there are basically two priorities: Defense and energy.

Two items are mentioned as evidence of the above, namely the purchase of 24 supersonic 5th generation F-35 aircraft for the Army of the Czech Republic and the purchase of NET4GAS Holdings, which operates an extensive gas pipeline system. As you, dear readers, have already been able to read on these pages, the draft state budget for next year foresees a deficit of 252 billion crowns. The decrease in state spending in most budget chapters can be attributed to that number with a clear conscience, except for the above-mentioned exceptions. For comparison, this year the final figure in the state economy is to be a deficit of 295 billion crowns.

However, it is clear from the reactions and outputs of representatives of groups, associations or movements and political parties that did not participate in drawing up the state budget that “they” want it differently. One party has approved strikes and is inciting resistance, while another is organizing conferences where it presents castles in the air with selected economists and wrings its hands with reference to how it would do it differently (and, of course, better) in power.

It’s a pity that the participants of similar “meetings” don’t ask leading experts from such parties why they did worse when they were in power than those who have it now. Apparently, these parties do not mind that, despite the various labeling of austerity packages, mandatory expenditures are still the largest expenditure item of the state. For next year, their number, without taking defense money into account, shows a value of 1.247 trillion crowns and will grow by 52 billion year-on-year. Of this, 706.2 billion crowns are pensions, the volume of which grows by 34.5 billion crowns year-on-year.

On this occasion, I would like to wonder if the buffoons in the aforementioned parties, before the fiery ascents in which they promise the people of this country a better tomorrow by throwing money from a helicopter, will ask their children at home if they expect to pay off their debts. But you are right, kind readers, it is a cliché and an overplayed fact.

After all, as some party members like to repeat all the time, the resources are always there and there is no need to look back. I myself asked several economists and analysts whether, as a result, the state budget of the Czech Republic for next year is such a mess, as ANO and SPD deputies state everywhere, in addition to the fact that the deficit is actually higher, because he is still hiding money from the European Investment Bank.

But come on, I’m sure you know how it turned out. If you ask a hundred people, you’ll get a hundred opinions. And I bet you that they will make your head spin. Regardless of who says what, what the Czech budget actually says is much more important to the outside world. It contains clear proclamations by the government to save, so that savings are not uncommon here. Of course, anything can always be done better and faster. But investors who buy domestic bonds get a clear message. The Czech government is not going to throw their money out of a helicopter. The rating agencies, in turn, received the message that we do not underestimate the country’s indebtedness, and even when there are real complaints about Czech shortcomings, we try to correct them.

It doesn’t mean everything is great and great. It means that even with tactics and strategy with an over-indebted state, long-term unresolved complications in the economy and the setting of rules, we must definitely add, regardless of our own political interests. But it occurs to me when I see headlines about the fact that, for example, programmers in some programming language solve a problem for many hours and when they deploy AI (meaning Artificial intelligence) they have a result within a few minutes.

With a slight smile, I therefore add that it is strange that the dear members of the Parliament of the Czech Republic have not yet thought that AI is actually the ability of machines to imitate human abilities, such as thinking, learning, planning or creativity, so that they would basically kill by using it, so to speak, kill several birds with one stone: They would not have to bother for months arguing about where to cut or add something, and in the final form of the state budget, they could say: “It’s not us, it’s artificial intelligence” in the face of the opposition’s long-lasting criticisms. I will be back, baby!