How the industry and economy are doing

Why watch?

Jan Mašek discusses these topics with Radek Špicar, vice president for economic policy and export at the Confederation of Industry and Transport of the Czech Republic, and Associate Professor Filip Matějka, a Neuron Award laureate for his work on economic theories that explain the behavior of individuals and the state. 

What will you learn?

• What is the current condition of Czech companies and industry in general?
• How are they changing in the current situation?
• What impact will broad measures have on the Czech economy?

Guests

Filip Matějka

A Czech economist who uses economic theories to explain the behavior of individuals and the state. He studied physics at Charles University and earned his PhD in applied mathematics at Princeton University in the USA. Since 2010, he has worked as a researcher at the Institute of Economics of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Since 2011, he has been a faculty member at CERGE-EI, a joint workplace of Charles University and the Czech Academy of Sciences. His research focuses mainly on macroeconomics, economic theory, information economics, and behavioral economics.

He specializes in developing the theory of rational inattention, first described in 2003 by Nobel laureate Christopher Sims. Matějka became interested in the theory while studying at Princeton University, where Sims taught, and subsequently began to develop it further. This theory, which combines classical economics with behavioral economics, describes human errors in decision-making. Filip Matějka conducts research integrating this theory into standard economic and sociological models. He aims to describe how people behave when making decisions, which information they consider, and which they overlook.

Radek Špicar

A graduate of Charles University in Prague and the University of Cambridge. In the past, he served as deputy prime minister for the economy and later as director of external relations at Auto Škoda and director of the Aspen Institute Prague think tank.

He currently serves as vice president of the Confederation of Industry and Transport, the largest domestic representative of Czech entrepreneurs. In academia, Radek focuses on corporate social responsibility and economic diplomacy.