P3 - Socialist Institutions and Their TransitionsNávrat zpět

The synthesis of cameralism and the classical school of political economy was implemented on university premises in the Czech Lands as the education of Adam Smith was adopted. It was spread out by presentations of Wenzel Gustav Kopetz, the Professor of political economy at the University of Prague, and by professors of political economy at the Olomouc Lyceum (from 1827 at the University of Olomouc). A declining interest of the state in political economy reduced an interest in economic thinking which resulted in a considerable decrease of publishing activity. A certain toleration of authorities to the criticism of the officially prescribed Sonnenfels' textbook has enabled the reception of new ideas of the classical school into the education. The lectures by Professor Kopetz, have been preserved up to these days, can prove it. A new independent part was formed as a discipline of the education.

The study examines the changes of the Central Eastern European region first in the context of world history. It confirms by comparative historical analyses that the transformation was indeed unique. This has been the only total transformation that took place peacefully, without violence, and at the same time astonishingly fast, in the main direction of the economic and the political changes of Western civilization. From that perspective it is an exceptional success story. However, from the perspective of everyday life, the result is different. Deep economic troubles are experienced by a considerable portion of the population. The perception of losses is intensified by various cognitive problems. Based on the experience of today's generation, evaluating the change as an unequivocal success would be unwarranted. Both approaches are justified: it would be wrong to blend the two and to weigh them by the same scale.

The paper is concerned with the Czech privatization. According to the author, there was no economic theory of privatization in 1989. Therefore, decision makers in transition economies had to improvise and solve a dilemma: a fast, or slow privatization? The Czech literature on privatization as well as the strengths and weaknesses of privatization methods in the Czech Republic, including of the voucher one, are discussed. The paper argues against the pessimistic view on the Czech privatization, which predominated in the literature in the second half of the nineties.