Media

IDEA features prominently in the leading Czech newspapers and magazines as wells as national TV and radio shows. For a regular coverage of the IDEA media impact, visit the MEDIA section of our Czech site. 

How to prepare the Czech Republic for an aging population? Will the pension reform ensure the fairness and stability of the pension system?

According to which system pupils will be allocated to secondary schools

The approved pension reform foresees an increase in the retirement age above 65 in line with the increase in life expectancy

About the pension reform in detail

How is and will climate change affect the Czech economy?

Caring for a family or a career? Women in the Czech Republic often face a similar choice

Czech labour market is damaged, low unemployment is an illusion

Entrance exams to secondary schools. Why isn't just primary school preparation enough?

The scissors between the public and private spheres on salaries and wages are still opening

Monetary policy and fiscal stimulus. What can Europe learn from the US?

Living standards of Czechs in international comparison

Budget outlook for next year plans to cut 15 billion from education

Quotes from Czech media:

"This is a signal from the Constitutional Court that it is not indifferent to the economic future of this country, because the fiscal costs of an increase in the indexation would be not only high, but especially long-term," Filip Pertold said of the Constitutional Court's decision to reject the opposition's proposal to repeal the law that cut pensioners' pension indexation. 

26.1.2024, Filip Pertold, podcast Chuťovky, Novinky.cz: https://www.novinky.cz/clanek/podcasty-chutovky-us-ukazal-ze-mu-jde-o-budoucnost-zeme-zvyseni-veku-odchodu-do-duchodu-se-nevyhneme-40458641?fbclid=IwAR0DLRyXN2cx6lqTEGfxrppz8e4aUrjIqTcrjFpnZaU9kIuAqIVMZGeMVNw

"Without the euro, we lose influence and wealth," says economist Jan Švejnar. He believes that the transition to the single currency is not regretted anywhere. In an interview for Lidové noviny, economist Jan Švejnar talks about the adoption of the euro and the economic recession in the Czech Republic.

"Every system works differently in every economic situation. If real wages are rising and are only valorized depending on inflation, then pensioners' purchasing power is falling compared to the average. Conversely, when real wages have been falling for the last two years, pensioners are very protected, in fact the most protected of all dependent groups," says economist Filip Pertold in an analysis of the state of pensions for seznamzpravy.cz

“Making changes to the pension system is difficult. Any changes that respond to the demographic curve are unpopular and create an impression that the situation for current pensioners is changing, even though that is not true. For current pensioners very little changes. Main change will occur for future generations, however that is usually difficult to communicate effectively to the public. The number of people working per pensioner will decline over time and we need to respond to this in some way."

17. 7. 2023, Filip Pertold, Devadesátka, ČT: https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/11412378947-90-ct24/223411058130717/cast/990509/?fbclid=IwAR2WFFh_YZYP5wN85rCa_UaMBIxuA-95_AtVULDT7zhugRceEnmYQJQvxuE

"History teaches us that across-the-board cuts lead to across-the-board spending increases. What can help us instead are thoughtful budget interventions that lead to a modernisation of the functioning of the state."

3. 7. 2023, Filip Pertold, Devadesátka, ČT: https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/11412378947-90-ct24/223411058130607/?fbclid=IwAR1JSHnf2-yKDeA1izez9k77qUbEtoMoapi-TDlS_z1j2HD_Dfqozm1YTgI

“Multinational companies in the Czech Republic are preparing for the transition to euro but most medium and small sized firms still do not understand the importance of how fast the world economy progressed towards green transformation.”

3. 7. 2023, Jan Švejnar, Bruselské chlebíčky, Radiožurnál

“The government should try to act in favour of its citizens and its households. It seems as if the government creates measures in favour of banks and companies which is the opposite of what the government should do in this situation.”

25. 6. 2023, Jan Švejnar, 168 hodin, ČT: https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/10117034229-168-hodin/223452801100625/

"The problem with the Czech economy is not the debt-to-GDP ratio, but the real economic contraction in the second half of last year and the fact that the Czech Republic is still stagnating economically. The main problem is that our GDP is not growing and living standards are falling, which raises the question of what the budget should look like."

5. 6. 2023, Jan Švejnar, Devadesátka, ČT: https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/11412378947-90-ct24/223411058130703/cast/988642/?fbclid=IwAR2Pfev7uaO2ujxC7KuPEKGHKs4_JRhfxmV6mtqU362pdejA8OolaeK2qHQ

“The Czech National Bank created an expectation for inflation in the last quarter of 2021 when it significantly increased interest rates and its rhetoric. The core inflation, that being inflation without externalities such as energy costs, was similar in the Czech Republic as in the rest of the EU until 2021. After that, inflation in the Czech Republic increased significantly to around 8 percent compared to the rest of the EU where it was around 2 percent. We therefore created an expectation for inflation which is now difficult to remove.”

28. 5. 2023, Jan Švejnar, Otázky Václava Moravce, ČT: https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/1126672097-otazky-vaclava-moravce/223411030500528/

English-speaking media publishes the IDEA outcomes irregularly: 11. 10. 2021

Jan Švejnar in Discussion with Jeffrey Sachs at the Forum 2000 Conference, 15. 10. 2020

Czech economy will fall an estimated 8 percent of GDP this year, according to lead economist, Expats.cz, 25. 6. 2020. The country will lose approximately 7.5 to eight percent of its national GDP during the year, Jan Švejnar, head of the Economic Advisory Team at the Central Crisis Staff and the director of IDEA at CERGE-EI, told Seznam Zpravy.

Study: No increase in Czech unemployment despite sharp rise in minimum wage, Radio Praha | in English, 2. 5. 2019. Raising the minimum wage tends to have a knock-on effect of higher unemployment. However, repeated increases in the minimum wage in the Czech Republic over the last few years have not that impact, suggests a new study published by the think tank IDEA, which is part of the economics institute CERGE-EI. The study’s co-author Professor Štěpán Jurajda told the news website iDnes.cz that the jump in the minimum wage had caused low-income salaries to grow by at least one more percentage point than they would have otherwise, by 3 percent rather than 2 percent.

Study: Differences in young teachers´literacy, math skills widening, Radio Praha | in English, 3. 9. 2018 (see the summary of our study Czech teachers´intellectual skills in international and generational comparison)