I Don't Think There Is Any Global

I Never Intended To Be A Politician Or Office-seeker.

I Was 25 Years Old And Pursuing My Doctorate In Economics When I Was Allowed To Spend Six Months Of Postgraduate Studies In Naples, Italy. I Read The Western Economic Textbooks And Also The More General Work Of People Like Hayek. By The Time I Returned To Czechoslovakia, I Had An Understanding Of The Principles Of The Market. In 1968, I Was Glad At The Political Liberalism Of The Dubcek Prague Spring, But I Was Very Critical Of The Third Way They Pursued In Economics.

I Am Afraid There Are People Who Want To Stop The Economic Growth, The Rise In The Standard Of Living (though Not Their Own) And The Ability Of Man To Use The Expanding Wealth, Science And Technology For Solving The Actual Pressing Problems Of Mankind, Especially Of The Developing Countries.

To Talk About Planning An Economic System Is To Talk In Old Terms, And I Find Myself Sometimes Having To Teach Westerners About What The Market Really Means.

I Also Helped Write The Five-page Statement Of Principles That Civic Forum Issued In Late November. That Was The First Public Expression Of What The New Government Wanted To Do.