Crisis and transformation

Some of the experts who proclaim that the crisis is over might actually be naive enough to believe it. In most cases, though, they know full well that the current economic revival is merely a temporary episode and that the fundamental problems aren't being solved. Prof. Milan Zelený told Rádio Impuls that we should think about what is happening as a long-term "transformation" from one level of performance and behavior to another level, like the transformation from an agrarian society to an industrial one. We will continue to experience a crisis, he said, as long as we don't give it the proper name and don't recognize that our way of life is changing. Short-termism is the norm in Czech politics and business, but the current period of relative economic stability provides a good opportunity for the country to take stock of where it is and to decide whether it likes what it's transforming into. [Czech Republic]