Before sending them home...

ČSSD Chair Jiří Paroubek claims that the government's proposed reforms could lower GDP growth from the current 6% to 2-3%. It's a valid concern, but not for the reason he thinks. It's not the inflationary aspects of Mirek Topolánek's plan that pose the biggest risk, but a little-mentioned passage calling for severe penalties for illegally hiring foreigners. Topolánek told MFD that there are hundreds of thousands of illegal foreign workers in the CR. Proportionally, this makes it nearly as big an issue as in the U.S. Suddenly forcing these workers out of the market would cripple the construction industry and have a tidal-wave effect on other industries, as builders scrambled to fill the empty jobs. Manufacturers already complain that a shortage of hands is their biggest obstacle to growth. Any effort to rid the CR of foreign workers should be phased in gradually and be accompanied by measures to reduce the cost of hiring workers legally. [Czech Republic immigration aliens immigrants]