G01 - Financial CrisesReturn

Financial innovations should be regarded as a substantial element in the functioning of modern economies and financial sectors. However, their general impact is to be assessed from the present perspective, essentially depending on their particular behaviour and the role they play in the economy. Most importantly, this text follows both the Post-Keynesian and the Regulation School logic, trying to clarify business cycle volatility with respect to the intensity of innovative activities in the financial sector. The article also discusses some hypothetical causal relationships between the 2007-2008 financial and economic crisis and financial innovation activities, largely accelerated in intensity over the preceding two decades. As it is clearly demonstrated, the "Great Moderation" argument has not been entirely confirmed and a number of mainstream economists have ultimately been forced to adjust their respective approaches towards the functioning of modern economies.

The authors of the article point out that economic theory has failed to yield a solid theoretical background in critical situations such as the current financial and economic crisis and the transformation of post-communist economies. Mainly the present crisis opens the question of the unsatisfactory status of economic science. While classical liberal or Keynesian concepts are failing, theorists cannot look to mathematical modelling for help. It seems that traditional concepts malfunction, and the financial market is particularly predisposed for this process. The application of mathematical models is overvalued. The article calls attention to the possible influence and adequacy of regulatory attitudes on a return to equilibrium. It seems that the part of ethics must be upgraded decidedly. The challenge for today's theoretical economists is to find a new paradigm of economic science for today's global era.

While the significance of tourism for the Czech Republic's economy is relatively high, it is far from being the dominant industry. Despite the recent substantial investments in this particular field of economic activity, the share of tourism in the gross value added has been steadily declining, similarly to the ratio of tourism revenue to the gross domestic product. The year 2008 saw these values hitting a bottom as a result of the overall stagnation of tourism in the European Union, with the mild growth in 2009 being mostly attributable to the overall economy going through the recession; in this respect, the mild increase in tourism revenue to the GDP did not come as a surprise. In terms of the development of the entire industry, the real impacts of the crisis on tourism within the Czech economy need examining, although this particular influence should also be distinguished from other aspects such as the steady decrease in the share of tourism in the gross value added and in the ratio of tourism revenue to the GDP. This will enable us to exactly define the key reasons for tourism within the Czech economy not yielding the results that the same industry has generated in comparable countries. The present work formulates, and using a host of statistical data and their analysis also proves, the thesis that contrary to popular belief, the Czech tourism industry had been experiencing a downturn even before the economic recession set in.

The article deals with a numerical comparison of impacts of financial crises on the stock market over the last one hundred years. The goal of the analysis is to investigate, according to certain criteria, whether the current crisis on the stock market is more serious than the previous ones.

This paper is focused on analyzing the impacts of the governmental initiatives as a response to the global economic crisis on the private sectors in different countries. Macroeconomic and microeconomic backgrounds of the crisis are discussed at the beginning in order to understand its roots and consequences. These backgrounds are consequently connected and analyzed with a focus on selected countries: the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Australia. The impacts of the governmental initiatives on the private sector, key findings and recommendations, are summarised in the last chapter of the paper.