Final Word from Monday, August 3, 2026

JTEKT car-parts maker is laying off 300 workers at its Pilsen factory, which is nearly half of its total workforce there. In theory, these are 300 people who can move seamlessly to the booming arms industry. Pres. Petr Pavel told MFD in mid-July that, "It is likely that, in the foreseeable future, it [arms production] may even surpass the automotive industry in importance." When then-PM Petr Fiala declared in Nov. 2024 that Czech wages would reach German levels if his government got four more years, Andrej Babiš reacted sarcastically that it would require Fiala to become the German chancellor and to ruin the German economy too, so German wages fell to Czech levels. It's not a joke this time. For the arms industry to surpass the automotive industry in importance, it would require the unabated deindustrialization of Europe, combined with a complete upheaval of Czech and European society of the kind found only during full-scale war or revolution. Let's hope this isn't what the foreseeable future holds for Europe. [ weapons automobile ]