Euro speculation
One piece of news after another speaks against quick adoption of the euro. In early Feb., Václav Klaus said that if he's reelected, he doesn't think the CR will adopt the common currency before 2013; immediately upon being reelected, he then appointed euroskeptic Eva Zamrazilová to the central bank's board; Gov. Zdeněk Tůma, the only hangover from the Havel era, was then nominated to be shipped off to the EBRD. An indefinite delay in adopting the euro is everyone's logical conclusion from all this. Imagine how shocked the markets would be, then, if the Klaus National Bank suddenly reversed its decision at some point and announced that a quick euro is henceforth the new paradigm. Those who saw the writing on the wall would be at a huge advantage in terms of profiting from the exchange-rate peg. We've seen in the past few weeks what a few speculators can do to the crown's value....
Glossary of difficult words
Euro speculation - can either mean "currency speculation with the euro" or "speculation about adoption of the euro";hangover - something that has survived from the past;
to ship someone off - to get rid of someone;
EBRD - Tůma is the CR's nominee for president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development;
Klaus National Bank - a word play on the fact that Klaus has stocked the Czech National Bank with like-minded people;
henceforth - from this time on;
paradigm (a word Klaus likes to use) - model;
to see (or read) the writing on the wall - to anticipate something (often something bad), to foresee what is going to happen in the future;
exchange-rate peg - the value of the crown at the time of the conversion to the euro.