Schumpeter and the Mayans
A TV debate show in today's world, whether it is "Meet the Press" in the U.S., "Anne Will" in Germany or "OMV" in the CR, is nothing more than an exercise in Ricardian vice steeped in unrealistic assumptions unless it confronts the likelihood that the Western world is facing a civilizational change. Despite the best efforts of host Václav Moravec and the other guests (PM Jan Fischer and Prof. Jan Švejnar), Prof. Michal Mejstřík managed to slip just such an uncensored thesis into Czech TV's debate on Sunday. "We are behaving somewhat like the historical Mayans," he said. They uprooted the forest until all at once there was no more forest, he said, and their historical ways of doing things led to a complete collapse of their civilization. The first to leave, he noted, were the leaders, who had to escape the wrath of their subjects. What we need now, Mejstřík said, is a Schumpeter-like evolutionary development that reacts to the mistakes we made in the past. Alas, the other TV guests adhered to their Mayan way of thinking.
Glossary of difficult words
Joseph Schumpeter - a Moravian-born economist who opposed Keynesianism and warned of the demise of capitalism;debate - see the 20 min. mark;
Ricardian vice - the tendency for economists to make and test theories that are not based on the complexities of reality, resulting in theories that are mathematically attractive but largely useless for practical application;
steeped - surrounded or filled with a quality or influence;
uncensored - unedited (suggesting that mainstream TV usually tries to avoid such discussion);
to uproot - to pull something (such as a plant or tree) out of the ground;
wrath - extreme anger;
to adhere to - to abide by, act in accordance with.