Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1941 during WW II, Vaclav Klaus grew up during the Cold War. After earning a doctorate in economics, he pursued a career in academia and at the Czechoslovak State Bank. Immediately after the Velvet Revolution of 1989, Klaus entered politics. A founder of the Civic Democratic Party, he served from 1992 to 1997 as prime minister of the Czech Republic. In 2003 he was elected president, a position to which he was reelected in 2008.
In retelling his experience of living through the Velvet Revolution, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the lifting of the Iron Curtain, Vaclav Klaus offers his views on what students today need to understand about life under communism. He also defends his opposition to the idea of a European superstate -- "I do not consider the Lisbon Treaty to be a good thing for Europe, for the freedom of Europe, or for the Czech Republic" -- and compares the ideology of environmentalism and global warming alarmism with the ideology of communism.
Finally, he ponders the question of what lessons from history his grandchildren are learning.
Bio
Vaclav Klaus
Vaclav Klaus was born in the Vinohrady district of Prague on July 19, 1941. He spent his childhood and youth in the neighborhood of Tylovo namesti.
He studied at the Prague School of Economics (majoring in the Economics of Foreign Trade and graduating in 1963), and economics became his lifelong specialist field. He took advantage of the relative thaw in Czechoslovak public life at that time to study in Italy (1966) and the USA (1969). As a research worker at the Institute of Economics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, he completed a PhD in Economics in 1968.
In 1970, he was forced to abandon his research career for political reasons and left to work for many years at the Czechoslovak State Bank. He returned to an academic post at the Forecasting Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences in late 1987.
He entered politics immediately after 17th November 1989, but he did not lose his contacts with the world of economics. He continued his lectures and published occasionally and in 1991, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Economics at Charles University. In 1995, he was appointed Professor of Finance at the Prague School of Economics.
Vaclav Klaus started his political career in December 1989, when he became Federal Minister of Finance. In October 1991, he was also appointed Deputy Prime Minister of the Czecho-Slovak Federation. In late 1990, he became Chairman of what was then the strongest political entity in the country - Civic Forum. After its demise in April 1991, he co-founded the Civic Democratic Party, and was its Chairman from the outset until December 2002. He won the parliamentary elections with this party in 1992 and became the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic. It was in this position that he took part in the peaceful division of Czechoslovakia and the foundation of an independent Czech Republic. In 1996, he successfully defended his position as Prime Minister in the elections to the Chamber of Deputies, but he resigned after the break-up of the government coalition in November 1997. After the early elections of 1998, he became the Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies for a four-year term of office.
On February 28, 2003, Vaclav Klaus was elected President of the Czech Republic. Vaclav Klaus is married to economist Livia Klausova and has five grandchildren and two sons: Vaclav is the headmaster of a private grammar school in Prague and Jan works as a financial analyst.
Peter Robinson
Peter M. Robinson is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, where he writes about business and politics, edits the Hoover Institution's quarterly journal, the Hoover Digest, and hosts Hoover's television program, "Uncommon Knowledge."
Robinson is also the author of three books: How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life; It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP; and the best-selling business book Snapshots from Hell: The Making of an MBA.
Country, central Europe. Area: 30,451 sq mi (78,867 sq km). Population (2009 est.): 10,504,000. Capital: Prague. Czechs make up about nine-tenths of the population; Slovaks and Moravians are the largest minorities. Language: Czech (official). Religion: Christianity (predominantly Roman Catholic, also other Christians, Protestant). Currency: koruna. The landlocked country is dominated by the Bohemian Massif, a ring of mountains rising to 5,256 ft (1,602 m) at Mount Snezka to encircle the Bohemian Plateau. The Morava River valley, known as the Moravian Corridor, separates the Bohemian Massif from the Carpathian Mountains. Woodlands are a characteristic feature of the Czech landscape; most regions have a moderate oceanic climate. The economy, privatized since 1990, is now largely market-oriented. The Czech Republic is a unitary multiparty republic with two legislative houses; its head of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. Until 1918 its history was largely that of Bohemia. In that year the independent republic of Czechoslovakia was born through the union of Bohemia and Moravia with Slovakia. Czechoslovakia came under the domination of the Soviet Union after World War II, and from 1948 to 1989 it was ruled by a communist government. Its growing political liberalization was suppressed by a Soviet invasion in 1968 (seePrague Spring). After 1990, separatist sentiments emerged among the Slovaks, and in 1992 the Czechs and Slovaks agreed to break up their federated state. At midnight on Dec. 31, 1992, Czechoslovakia was peacefully dissolved and replaced by two new countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with the region of Moravia remaining in the former. In 1999 the Czech Republic joined NATO, and in 2004 it became a member of the European Union.
Fora.tv, please stop showing us content that doesn't fit our carefully constructed, yet fragile, progressive worldview. We are tired of hearing from those that don't agree with the things we learned in college or watch on MSNBC. Please, we beg you stop!
1. For all smart guys who think understand what communism was: socialism and communism was/is one of most stupid and evil system ever on Earth. Thanks God it is fallen. Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher did a great effort to win it.
People like Vaclav Klaus did also great job. Like milions of Poles, Czechs and others.
2. We, the people of those countries, who won it, know the best what does it mean, what is the value of freedom.
We know what does the evil ideology and propaganda means.
That's why we are so carefully about EU rules, and totalitarism of global warming ideology.
3. Religion of global warming is another kind of totailitarism.
Take simple logic facts: CO2 is third warming gas, being less than 3% of all warming gases and human being influence less than 3% of CO2. It is part of permile.
All global warming ideologists: can't you use common sense - vulacnos, oceans, even caws influence gases hundred times more than all human activity.
4. Volume of ice is higher than volume of water. Even taking that part of ice is over surface of water level of oceans can't increase significantly even temperature will increase.
funny how if you challenge the global warming orthodoxy, its apologists go ballistic like you are insulting their god. Perhaps it really IS a religion of sorts. "How could you not believe in manmade global warming? You must be an evil idiot!" hmmm, "how could you not believe the earth is the center of the universe? you must be burned at the stake!" I see little difference between religious fundamentalism and global warming fundamentalism. The current academic scandal regarding suppression of contrary views evidences this.
EU is worst than communismus.there will be war between all the eu country's.. the eu has got a good plan just like hitler had. there are too many people on this planet there will be a war in the eu. like i said a good plan...
I did not make sweeping statements. If you notice the quotes. Those are there because I was quoting an earlier statement about this interview. I do not suppose to know everything.. or much about Czech. politics...
Thank you for the REAL information about how he came into power.
I wish all post were as informative. Again,,,if you do not have anything to give,,shut up!!!
The economist of that time had a unique perspective,,unlike the economist of this decade. Forced fed the macro/micro Keynesian,,,Depression Era.. There are so many ways to slice it up. Why are students fed such limited knowledge? Even the Nobel Prize winners..Limited thinking.
The old communist Economist could teach something. What other perspective could we look into that would give another angle on the subject?? AlL IS KNOWLEDGE.
It is ignorant to say this man is just old and from other generation. AS IF the new generation is so much better.. (math is not new) this is the story of all teenagers, Invincible but dangerous to drive with..
History has lessons. Let us look at them and LEARN.
Václav Klaus entered politics during the Velvet Revolution in 1989. He came to the offices of the Civic Forum (OF) during the second week of the Revolution along with other economists who offered their technical expertise to the OF. The dissidents who led the OF and had actively opposed the regime generally lacked the training in non-Marxist economics offered by Klaus and his colleagues. He became Czechoslovakia's Minister of Finance in the "government of national unity" on 10 December 1989.
You might want to check your facts before making sweeping statements.
"Klaus is more interested in retaining power for his government and croanies than he is in doing what is best for his people and his country - ie - be an active participant in the UE, not just a thorn in its side. Bring something positive to the table, Klaus! He reeks of contempt for the US and the EU but he offers nothing! Czech citizens need to support opposition candidates and challenge the government! Peace!"
Maybe he is the only with enough self respect to stand up for his country. Maybe he would like the courts of his own country have the right to make laws for his own country. Maybe he does not want France and Germany to make ALL decisions in the EU?I do not think his stance is making himselve more popular.. He knows this. The BRING SOMETHING POSITIVE arugment is simply the European thing to say, when you do not agree ... He does not reek of contempt for the US to me.. He offers real historical perspectives...2 World Wars in Europe all started in basicaly the same ways..Study the historical facts... Czech citizens need to look into their banking policies and see who is in charge. What about that Foreign Minister?? What is his connection to Germany?
Truely nationalism is under fire again. Reacting with Ultra Nationalism is dangerous BUT,,, the needs of a nation do not correspond with ALL nations in the EU.
Globalization?,,,all as one?...Peace... Are we all one? I think NOT. Kissinger asked, "Who do I call if I want to reach Europe?" Now he has a line! This is not anti American,,, this is Kissinger,,, he was not even born in the US. Individual manipulating the masses. Will you join the cattle call?
He is right, American do not understand Europe. Europeans need boarders to protect common citizens. I do not like bad people using boarder-less passage to do crimes and drive to the next country..with out restrictions. And for fun you can think about wages...what a can of worms..Baltic citizens coming to Scandinavia to work,,and they have no longer protection for their workers (with models that have worked for workers, not corporations)
There was once a time I believed in the improvements of living standards over the entire planet. Basic standards of living. Now I understand that there are greedy people with very powerful connections and hooks... Who care less about the young, old or your opinion..They will not ask. They are not asking you.
Your words, my words are silent.. screaming in the dark.
This first statement is ..... also void of substance.
"This guy is a professional ***hole. It's interesting that he seems to take some kind of credit for the Velvet Revolution of 1989 when he had no part of it. Viewers need to know that this is not Vaclav Havel."
AGAIN... if you are not going to address the topic...why waist space? Calling someone an ***hole..is not an argument..or taking about the Velvet Rev...?? This is not the topic..
member. 
