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Ethical and Political Implications of Thomas Piketty's Work on Economic Inequality
Miledova, Linda ; Salamon, Janusz (advisor) ; Benáček, Vladimír (referee)
French Economist Thomas Piketty, through a study of history and empirical data from different cultures and generations, argues that economic inequality, today, is not a natural outcome of the free market but has deeper roots. Piketty, indeed, asserts, through his extensive analysis of political systems and ideologies, that the trajectory of income inequality depends heavily on the power exercised by the state and other politically-motivated groups that aim to execute their personal agendas at the cost of the rest of society, namely, middle and lower classes. A historical and comparative analysis between various nations and how they justified inequalities in their governments shows that these gaps are politically driven. The results of a colonial eras and the wars are pure proof that inequalities are intentional and certain groups make sure that some countries and classes suffer from poverty for further control and power. Piketty claims that this status quo has become unsustainable and that global legislative changes ought to be implemented to reduce the gap between the rich minorities and lower classes. The French author proposes a progressive wealth tax that would impose higher taxes on wealthier individuals with capitals and assets. The revenues from these taxes will be used to better public...
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Specifics of electoral behaviour in East German states and their reasons
Šebek, Ondřej ; Handl, Vladimír (advisor) ; Šmidrkal, Václav (referee)
This thesis is aimed at voting behaviour and current voting trends in the eastern states of the FRG. During its short existence the right-extremist party Alternative für Deutschland has managed to succeed in regional as well as national policy, mainly due to the votes from the eastern states of the FRG. In my work I am dealing with specifics of the Germans choice during the elections to Bundestag, mainly I am focusing on the eastern states of the FRG. To clarify the reasons for the choice of Alternative für Deutschland in the east, I use the data obtained from the voters during the elections, on which I based the answers to my research questions. The conclusion of the thesis is that voters make decisions based on rational behaviour, as well as party identification, and populism also plays a role in decision-making, due to the promises of Alternative für Deutschland and their criticism of the government. Different results in the eastern states are affected by worse economic situation of the voters, inequality between eastern and western states of the FRG and immutable situation in the last 30 years since the unification of Germany.
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The percetion of equality in the US
Černochová, Johana ; Hornát, Jan (advisor) ; Klvaňa, Tomáš (referee)
This thesis analyses the perception of equality in the United States in the context of today's high economic inequality. The main characteristic feature of this perception is the emphasis on the equality of opportunity. According to this ideal, America is the land of equal opportunity to achieve success, which depends on hard work and talent, not on family wealth. This concept is often considered as the opposite of the so-called equality of outcomes, which demands more even distribution of wealth, and which is usually perceived as foreign to American values. However, the large economic inequality, which is even much higher in America than in other advanced countries, has provably negative impacts on the general possibility of fair equal opportunity. Hence, the aim of this thesis is to verify the assumption that in the context of today's high and rising economic inequality, these negative impacts on the real state of equal opportunity must also find expression in the actual American perception of equality. Based on the analysis of an extensive set of public opinion surveys, it concludes that a certain change in the perception takes place. The emphasis on the equality of opportunity is still crucial, but the findings of the thesis do not support the notion that larger equality of outcomes is...
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The percetion of equality in the US
Černochová, Johana ; Hornát, Jan (advisor) ; Klvaňa, Tomáš (referee)
This thesis analyses the perception of equality in the United States in the context of today's high economic inequality. The main characteristic feature of this perception is the emphasis on the equality of opportunity. According to this ideal, America is the land of equal opportunity to achieve success, which depends on hard work and talent, not on family wealth. This concept is often considered as the opposite of the so-called equality of outcomes, which demands more even distribution of wealth, and which is usually perceived as foreign to American values. However, the large economic inequality, which is even much higher in America than in other advanced countries, has provably negative impacts on the general possibility of fair equal opportunity. Hence, the aim of this thesis is to verify the assumption that in the context of today's high and rising economic inequality, these negative impacts on the real state of equal opportunity must also find expression in the actual American perception of equality. Based on the analysis of an extensive set of public opinion surveys, it concludes that a certain change in the perception takes place. The emphasis on the equality of opportunity is still crucial, but the findings of the thesis do not support the notion that larger equality of outcomes is...
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Critical Theory and Dialectics of Contemporary Economics
Maialeh, Robin ; Chytil, Zdeněk (advisor) ; Pavlík, Ján (referee) ; Valenčík, Radim (referee) ; Yagan, Danny (referee)
The subject of this dissertation thesis is a confrontation of contemporary economic thought with critical theory. Based on the holistic critique of the production process, the author deals with elementary principles of wealth creation and allocation, mirroring themselves in the issue of economic inequality. An applied transdisciplinary approach leads to dialectical understanding of market mechanism which accentuates an antagonistic character of its actors´ aims and reveals its non-empirical causalities. These abstract connections then become a viable explanatory complement to already advanced empirical apparatus of economic inequality. The goal of the thesis is to formulate an economic model that takes into consideration both empirical findings of contemporary studies on economic inequality and reflection of the critical theory. The value added lies in the fact that the economic model presents an interaction of economic agents and through probabilistic drive towards deepening economic inequalities exposes market mechanism as the diverging factor of social reproduction. Further, the model shows that Pareto-optimization, a frequently used analytically-normative tool of contemporary economics, principally does not suffice in grasping market-based inequalities. The contribution of the thesis is researching particular economic phenomena from the unique perspective which has not been yet fully accomplished in the context of modern economics.
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Central bank monitoring - December 2014
Česká národní banka
Latest monetary policy developments at selected central banks and news. Spotlight: Monetary policy and inequality. Selected speech: „Patience is a virtue when normalizing monetary policy“ by Charles L. Evans (president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago).
Fulltext:  PDF; PDF
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