Final Word from Thursday, November 23, 2023

Low unemployment is one of the lasting effects of the CNB's devaluation of 2013-2017, and business leaders don't even want to consider the idea that the hiring bubble will ever burst. Rarely do the titans of industry speak in public without demanding that the government increase the quotas for non-EU foreigners as a way to fill the vacant positions. Pres. Jan Rafaj of the Confederation of Industry blamed populism for the "blocked labor market." In the same breath, he and other business leaders warn about the devastating effects of high energy costs. Kovo labor leader Roman Ďurčo said that the higher regulated part of the energy price next year was the last straw that caused his union to join the strike on Mon. Energy-intensive companies are already going broke, and more will no doubt follow. Without timely unemployment management, the same business leaders who are now calling for imports of cheap Mongolians will soon be demanding government subsidies for not firing Czechs. [ Czech Republic and Transportation European Union third-country Mongolia India Indonesia ]