Final Word from Thursday, November 9, 2023
One of the biggest complaints of businesspeople during covid was that if they wanted a zero-interest government loan for their company, they had to sign a personal guarantee. Co-owner David Petřík of Together restaurant company told HN that when the entire dining sector was going down the tubes, it was like sticking your head in a noose to sign a personal guarantee for a legal entity. Co-owner Jiří Šimáně of Smartwings said that the idea was socialistic. That was April 2020, when no one knew how bad covid would get. If the state gave a commitment under such circumstances, it wanted one in return. Today no one has any idea what will happen next year, but PM Petr Fiala and Industry Min. Jozef Síkela are giving a commitment to households that electricity rates won't rise by more than 10%. If energy prices spiked, not even all of Fiala and Síkela's ample assets would cover everyone's losses, but these two could at least deliver sealed resignations to the Castle as a personal guarantee for their promise. [ Czech Republic electric energy IOU ]
Glossary of difficult words
to go down the tubes - to fail; to become ruined;
off the mark - incorrect or inaccurate;
to spike - to reach a sharply higher price, amount, etc., usually before a fall.