Good old days

Gogol Bordello, the hottest band out of Eastern Europe (by way of NYC), declares in "Ultimate" that "there was never any good old days, they are today, they are tomorrow, it's a stupid thing we say, cursing tomorrow with sorrow." If only it were true that "tomorrow" will be better than "today" or "yesterday" for the Czech economy. Czechs are spending as though money were going out of style. For many businesses, it's been as easy as hunting cows, to use the phrase of another East European transplant, Gary Shteyngart. Next year will see an inevitable slowdown, with increases for energy, food, loans and other items eating into budgets. Some people are predicting the kind of "lousy mood" on the commercial level that has prevailed at times on the political level. But optimists say Czechs still have plenty of that Eastern European resourcefulness in them and - as always - will pull through just fine.