The Prague street that joins into the bottom of Wenceslas square  came 20th in the world ranking of the most expensive streets in the world (down from 18th a year ago). Rents there reach 2000 EUR per square meter a year. Paradoxically, the Czech name translates literally as "on the ditches".  read more »

This is an interesting story about expatriate adjustment of people who are not like the stereotypical American expats.   read more »

Hlavním obchodním centrem je Londýn, Praha je 41. Nejvýznamnějším městem ovlivňujícím globální ekonomiku je Londýn, za kterým následují New York, Tokio, Chicago a Hongkong. V první desítce se dále umístily Singapur, Frankfurt, Paříž, Soul a Los Angeles. Praha skončila v porovnání se všemi světovými městy na 41. místě, v Evropě obsadila 18. příčku.

MF DNES
Praha - Pražský hotel Riverside je osmý nejluxusnější na celém světě. Na osmé místo se dostal v prestižní anketě portálu Tripadvisor, který každý rok oceňuje nejlepší hotely z celého světa.

Two hotels in Prague made it to the top 10 in a survey of hotel visitors from around the world conducted by Tripadvisor. Riverside is 8th (4th in Europe) and Le Palais 10th.

It should be of note that neither of these hotels has a Czech or even Czech sounding name and that one  read more »

Average sick leave length in Czech Republic increased in 2006 - Prague Daily Monitor
The average sick leave length of Czech employees increased to 36.5 days by about three days last year, compared to 2005, but the total number of people on sick leave has dropped, according to the Czech Social Authority (CSSZ).

And the most common illness was respiratory problems (the cough?). These numbers come from the agency administering the compulsory sick-leave and social security insurance whose budget is app  read more »

Vesnické obchody se spojí proti Teskům a Lidlům - iDNES.cz
České obchody Jednota, Konzum a Coop, kterých je 3074 po celé zemi, se chtějí jako protiváha k nadnárodním řetězcům zviditelnit pod jedním názvem. S největší pravděpodobností to bude Coop.

Two names that were known to Czech shoppers for decades may soon disappear. Jednota (Unity) and Konzum (Consuming) were two state-run (or at least state controlled) cooperatives covering thousands of shops and restaurants all over Czechoslovakia.  read more »

Europe : Foreign Direct Investment in the Czech Republic: A Challenge for Domestic Firms
An economic analysis concerning Foreign Direct Investment in the Czech Republic has been published by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs

The Czech Republic has been one of the primary recipients of foreign direct investment (FDI) among Central and Eastern European countries. Soon after transition, it attracted the attention of foreign investors based on sound economic fundamentals and the opportunities offered by early privatizations. Substantial foreign investment over a fifteen year period has profoundly affected the structure and performance of the economy. This country focus looks at the way in which foreign investment has influenced productivity and market dynamics, including intra and inter-industry spillovers, and the expansion of the economy as a whole.  read more »

Češi propadli adopci na dálku - www.lidovky.cz
Odborníci mají pro rostoucí zájem o adopce na dálku vysvětlení. Zatímco dříve byla z drtivé většiny motivace lidí dána výchovou – tedy že lidem v nouzi by se mělo pomáhat – nyní vstupuje do hry nový motiv. „I když ta touha pomáhat chudým převládá, motivace pramení i z dobrých materiálních poměrů Čechů, jejichž životní úroveň se každým rokem zvyšuje,“ konstatovala za občanské sdružení Adra Marie Racková. Organizace Adra zprostředkovala dálkové sponzorství pro 1100 dětí v Bangladéši.  read more »

Czech president says EU membership brought little to Czech Republic, Slovakia - International Herald Tribune
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia: Czech President Václav Klaus said Thursday he believes that the accession of his country and neighboring Slovakia to the European Union has brought little benefits to the two countries.

Not surprising given the strong Thatcherite leanings combined with increasingly strident nationalistic populism of the president (biased view of mine). He is also, tr  read more »

KOMO-TV - Seattle, Washington - Business - Anheuser-Busch, Czech brewer strike deal
Anheuser-Busch Cos. announced a deal Monday to distribute a beer brewed by Budejovicky Budvar. Both companies stand to benefit from the deal. But they also say it won't end their century-old legal fight over the Budweiser trademark.

The companies both claim exclusive rights to use the Budweiser name, and their trademark dispute has tied up courts throughout Europe.

But even as the lawyers battle it out, the two brewers will share common ground in pushing Budvar's Czechvar Premium Czech Lager to nationwide distribution in the United States.  read more »

Český HDP může dosáhnout průměru EU v roce Český hrubý domácí produkt by mohl dosáhnout průměru Evropské unie v roce 2013. Uvádí to studie francouzského Střediska pro mezinárodní studia a výzkum (CERI) o situaci v zemích střední a východní Evropy.

According to a French study the Czech gross domestic product will reach the EU average by 2013. One of the strong features of Czech economy is its positive import/export balance.

V Česku letos mizely lokální značky - iDNES.cz
Češi si musejí zvykat na nové názvy firem, nová loga a firemní barvy. Letošní rok byl totiž ve znamení velkých změn, a to především v oblasti telekomunikací. Loga Vodafone vystřídala na billboardech Oskara a Český Telecom s Eurotelem zaplavily bubliny O2

Some names that have become part of the national consciousness recently and others that have been part of the scene for decades will be with us no more next year. Czech Telecom and Eurotel (its mobile branch) have become Telefónica O2, and Oskar, the third mobile operator, was gobbled up by Vodafone.  read more »

Czech beer output seen up at 19.8 million hectolitres in 2006 - Prague Daily Monitor
Czech breweries are increasingly successful on foreign markets and the ratio of exports to total production grew to almost 18 percent in the first half of the year, against the global average of 6 percent.

Germany was still the largest market for Czech beer exporters, covering 40 percent of the total volume. Slovakia came second.

Vesely said output for the domestic market was likely to grow as well this year, mainly owing to a long, hot summer.  read more »

lidovky.zpravy.cz - Češi dotahují Rakušany. Pomalu
Průměrná česká domácnost utratí za byt, služby a další nutné výdaje zhruba dvakrát méně než stejná domácnost v Rakousku. Příjem má ale třikrát menší.

This is an older (Nov, 2005) story but it jibes nicely with the Big Mac story. It says that: "The average Czech household spends half as much as their Austrian counterpart on housing, services and other essential expenditures.  read more »

Lactalis lured by Czech cheese growth
French dairy giant Lactalis has enhanced its position in the growing cheese market of the Czech Republic by signing a deal to buy local firm Promil.
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It [the report] said cheese was an area ripe for investment.
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Euromonitor says quality has become increasingly important on the Czech cheese market, and has greatly improved in the last few years. Czech consumers, it adds, are very demanding: “The have many [cheeses] to choose from. They do not come back to products they were not satisfied with.”  read more »

Velké firmy propuštějí - www.lidovky.cz
Česká ekonomika láme rekordy, tisíce zaměstnanců velkých státních podniků ale přesto přijdou letos o práci. O další tisíce by se také měl snížit počet státních úředníků.

The headline says it all. Large state-owned companies such as Czech Rail and the Czech Post office as well as the Civil Service are planning large reductions in their workforce just as the economy is booming.

Bloomberg.com: Europe
Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The Czech economy probably grew an annual 4.9 percent in the third quarter, the second-fastest pace in nine years, a survey of economists shows.The expansion in the $111 billion economy, based on the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 13 economists, would be down from 5.1 percent in the April-June quarter. The statistics office will publish the report at 9 a.m. today in Prague.
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Economic growth in the Czech Republic, the second largest of the EU's 10 mainly eastern European new members, trailed neighboring Slovakia in the quarter.  read more »