Ota Šik
Encyclopedia
Ota Šik was a Czech
economist
and politician. He was the man behind the New Economic Model (economy liberalization plan) and was one of the key figures in the Prague Spring
.
. Before the Second World War
Šik studied Art at Charles University of Prague, and studied politics after the war.
Following the German
annexation of the Sudetenland
, and the partition of the whole nation in March 1939, Šik joined the Czech Resistance movement. However, he was arrested by the Gestapo
in 1940 and sent to the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
. At Mauthausen Šik's fellow inmates included Antonín Novotný
, the future president of Czechoslovakia (who was succeeded by the leader of the Prague Spring Alexander Dubček
), and Dubček's father, Štefan.
, wanted to bring market elements into central planning, to relax price controls
and to promote private enterprise in the hope of kick-starting the stagnant economic climate. It was around this point that Šik was elected to the party's central committee
and was made head of the economics institute at the Czech Academy of Sciences.
Šik's reforms were launched in 1967, before Dubček came to power, but were heavily watered down by party apparatchiks who worried about losing control of the factories. The only palpable, and certainly the most popular, result of the reforms was the appearance of private taxis on the streets of Prague
. In December 1967, at a party meeting that was a precursor to Dubček's coup a month later, Šik publicly denounced Novotný's regime. He demanded a fundamental change to the Communist system and a new leadership, two decades before Mikhail Gorbachev
he announced that economic reform could not be separated from fundamental political change. By this point Czechoslovakia had the lowest growth rates in the Soviet bloc, whereas previously it had been the economic backbone of the Habsburg empire.
Following Dubček's successful coup, Šik was made a deputy prime minister in April 1968 and he was the architect of the economics section of Dubček's action programme
. Šik claimed that if his policies were followed then Czechoslovakia would be on an economic par with neighbouring Austria
within four years. However these plans were never followed out after the Prague Spring
was brutally ended in August of the same year by the tanks of the Red army
.
. With the threat of arrest looming, he never returned to his homeland. Leonid Brezhnev
and the Soviet Communist Party
's propaganda machine singled Šik out for particular attention. In August 1968, TASS issued a press release calling him an agent of U.S.
imperialism and "one of the most odious figures of the rightwing revisionists".
Šik left Yugoslavia in October 1968 and moved to Switzerland
. In 1969, he returned to Prague and tried to convince his colleagues but his views were rejected. So he returned to Switzerland where he became an economics professor at the University of St. Gallen
in 1970. He held the post until he retired in 1990. After the Velvet Revolution
Šik became an economic advisor to the Czech president but had no impact on actual economic policies. He became a Swiss citizen and lived there until his death.
but through the time he became a proponent of social market economy
instead of market socialism. His major works include:
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
and politician. He was the man behind the New Economic Model (economy liberalization plan) and was one of the key figures in the Prague Spring
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
.
Early years
Šik was born in the industrial town of Plzeň, CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
. Before the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Šik studied Art at Charles University of Prague, and studied politics after the war.
Following the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
annexation of the Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
, and the partition of the whole nation in March 1939, Šik joined the Czech Resistance movement. However, he was arrested by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
in 1940 and sent to the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen Concentration Camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that was built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria, roughly east of the city of Linz.Initially a single camp at Mauthausen, it expanded over time and by the summer of 1940, the...
. At Mauthausen Šik's fellow inmates included Antonín Novotný
Antonín Novotný
Antonín Novotný was General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1953 to 1968, and also held the post of President of Czechoslovakia from 1957 to 1968. He was born in Letňany, now part of Prague....
, the future president of Czechoslovakia (who was succeeded by the leader of the Prague Spring Alexander Dubček
Alexander Dubcek
Alexander Dubček , also known as Dikita, was a Slovak politician and briefly leader of Czechoslovakia , famous for his attempt to reform the communist regime during the Prague Spring...
), and Dubček's father, Štefan.
Political career
The connections that Šik made at Mauthausen proved useful in his post-war political career. In the early 1960s he attempted to persuade the hardline president, Novotný, into loosening his rigid adherence to central planning, which had been crippling the economy. Šik, who by this point was an economics professor and member of the Communist partyCommunist Party of Czechoslovakia
The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, in Czech and in Slovak: Komunistická strana Československa was a Communist and Marxist-Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992....
, wanted to bring market elements into central planning, to relax price controls
Price controls
Price controls are governmental impositions on the prices charged for goods and services in a market, usually intended to maintain the affordability of staple foods and goods, and to prevent price gouging during shortages, or, alternatively, to insure an income for providers of certain goods...
and to promote private enterprise in the hope of kick-starting the stagnant economic climate. It was around this point that Šik was elected to the party's central committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
and was made head of the economics institute at the Czech Academy of Sciences.
Šik's reforms were launched in 1967, before Dubček came to power, but were heavily watered down by party apparatchiks who worried about losing control of the factories. The only palpable, and certainly the most popular, result of the reforms was the appearance of private taxis on the streets of Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. In December 1967, at a party meeting that was a precursor to Dubček's coup a month later, Šik publicly denounced Novotný's regime. He demanded a fundamental change to the Communist system and a new leadership, two decades before Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
he announced that economic reform could not be separated from fundamental political change. By this point Czechoslovakia had the lowest growth rates in the Soviet bloc, whereas previously it had been the economic backbone of the Habsburg empire.
Following Dubček's successful coup, Šik was made a deputy prime minister in April 1968 and he was the architect of the economics section of Dubček's action programme
Action Programme (1968)
The Action Programme is a political plan, devised by Alexander Dubček and his associates in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia , that was published on April 5, 1968. The program suggested that the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic find its own path towards mature socialism rather than follow the...
. Šik claimed that if his policies were followed then Czechoslovakia would be on an economic par with neighbouring Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
within four years. However these plans were never followed out after the Prague Spring
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
was brutally ended in August of the same year by the tanks of the Red army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
.
After the Prague Spring
When the tanks rolled into Prague, Šik was on holiday in YugoslaviaYugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
. With the threat of arrest looming, he never returned to his homeland. Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
and the Soviet Communist Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
's propaganda machine singled Šik out for particular attention. In August 1968, TASS issued a press release calling him an agent of U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
imperialism and "one of the most odious figures of the rightwing revisionists".
Šik left Yugoslavia in October 1968 and moved to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. In 1969, he returned to Prague and tried to convince his colleagues but his views were rejected. So he returned to Switzerland where he became an economics professor at the University of St. Gallen
University of St. Gallen
The University of St. Gallen is a public research university located in St. Gallen, Switzerland. It is specialized in the fields of business administration, economics, law, and international affairs. The University of St. Gallen is also known as HSG, which is an abbreviation of its former German...
in 1970. He held the post until he retired in 1990. After the Velvet Revolution
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
Šik became an economic advisor to the Czech president but had no impact on actual economic policies. He became a Swiss citizen and lived there until his death.
Major works
Šik was known as a market socialistMarket socialism
Market socialism refers to various economic systems where the means of production are either publicly owned or cooperatively owned and operated for a profit in a market economy. The profit generated by the firms system would be used to directly remunerate employees or would be the source of public...
but through the time he became a proponent of social market economy
Social market economy
The social market economy is the main economic model used in West Germany after World War II. It is based on the economic philosophy of Ordoliberalism from the Freiburg School...
instead of market socialism. His major works include:
- The Third Way: Marxist-Leninist Theory & Modern Industrial Society (1972),
- For a Humane Economic Democracy (1979),
- The Communist Power System (1981),
- Economic Systems (1989).