Tomas Sedlacek

We are very pleased to introduce our first speaker, Dr. Tomas SedlacekTomas Sedlacek is an economist and writer who has shaken the study of economics as few ever have. He has been named one of the “Young Guns” and one of the “five hot minds in economics” by the Yale Economic Review

An advisor to banks, ministers and presidents, such as Vaclav Havel, to whom he was economic advisor, Sedlacek serves as the Chief Macroeconomic Strategist in the  leading Czech bank CSOB and sits on the National Economic Council of the Czech government. A member of the Yale University World Fellowship, where he served as a fellow and lectured, Sedlacek is the co-author of various case studies for Harvard and Georgetown, and a lecturer at Charles University, Prague.

In his best-seller book, The Economics of Good and Evil, reviewed by the Financial Times as “a compulsive read” and a “must-read” by the Washington Post for 2011,  Sedlacek shows how economics is woven out of history, myth, religion and ethics. His provocative writing argues a simple, almost heretical proposition: economics is ultimately about good and evil. In is foreword to the book, Vaclav Havel remarks that “the author’s questioning breaks down stereotypes.. economics becomes a path to adventure. ” The best-selling book has also been turned into a road-show theater piece performed by The Czech National Theatre in Prague and abroad.

Let’s see what are his views on reforms: “It’s like in the Old Testament, when you have seven good years you should prepare for the seven bad years which are likely to come. Rich years are an ideal time to undertake painful economic reforms, yet ironically this is the most difficult time to win the political support for the reforms.When all goes seemingly well on the surface, it’s very hard to convince the politicians and the public that we still have to undergo serious reforms and that something is wrong with the economy even though our GDP is growing at almost seven percent per year. You almost need crisis to drive the message home.”

If you want to see more of Tomas Sedlacek before our event in May, you can watch the talk he gave at the authors@google series.