Final Word from Thursday, February 9, 2012
Barack Obama was the Wall Street president ... before an even better Wall Streetcandidate - Mitt Romney - came along. Jan Švejnar, as the once and future chairmanof ČSOB's supervisory board, was the preferred candidate for some bankers in theCzech presidential elections last time ... but a better one has now come along. JanFischer is perhaps an unbeatable candidate in a direct election in the CR because hecombines the myth of a people's man with the power of the international bankingcommunity. In his case, it's the City of London (the financial district). What wouldthe City need from Fischer? Well, he should appoint central bankers who will playthe interest-rate game and prime ministers who will keep borrowing to the hilt. Fischerhas the added firepower of a strong local connection. Don't forget that his chiefadviser was Vladimír Mlynář, who is now heading up government relations for PPF.
Glossary of difficult words
once and future - used here to indicate that Švejnar suspended his membership on the sup. board to run for president and then returned to the post after failing to win election;
to the hilt - to the maximum extent, all the way;
firepower - the destructive capacity, as of a weapon, for delivering fire.