Oh Communism!

Friday around noon here in Prague. I've returned to my go-to wifi location, the Malastrana Starbucks, after an early morning meeting with an American developer in Prague who happens to be a Princeton alum. With a bit of luck, I think I will be able to meet a Princeton alum in every city visit!

Had two interviews yesterday, both of which came back to the interesting topic of the legacy of Communism in the Czech Republic. Both my interviewees agreed that it may take 50 years of capitalism to recover from the damage of communism. While that sounded a bit pessimistic to me, they have lived through both and are likely in a better position to judge. One of my favorite lines was the Czech proverb that "Success is never forgiven." It really captured how suspicious the Czech people are of those who gain wealth, whether through their own business or through a lucrative job with a big company.

We also had an interesting debate about what the Czech Republic's comparative advantage would be in the future (Econ 101: comparative advantage is the economic activity that is most efficient for you/your country to do in relation to others. Example: America's comparative advantage is usually thought to be its design/development/distribution of new products and new business processes. We design and market the iPhone, but it gets produced in China). Everyone I've talked with agreed that it will be hard to rely on the basic manufacturing that was so widespread under communism because Poland/Ukraine and much of Asia do it for cheaper. This was a great example of a "race to the bottom". While the discussion focused on the Czechs, I couldn't help but think how the same debate was applicable to America, particularly after the GM debacle.

In non-research news, I visited the oldest active synagogue in the world yesterday. It was built in 1270! They talked about the "recent fires" which occurred in the 17th century. This part of the world is definitely on an entirely different time scale than America. After that, I attended a fashion exhibition with my gracious host, Petra. It was by students from the Prague school of Design and Architecture. Apparently the top student gets to go to Fashion Week in NYC. Someone was there with a camera, so perhaps I will get a cameo on the Czech version of "Project Runway".

Still cold out, but it is supposed to be warm in Budapest. I'm off to find some lunch.