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This thesis examines whether the McCallum´s rule, which targets nominal GDP using the monetary base as its instrument, would be more successful in achieving the goal of smoother path of nominal GDP with inflation staying on target, had it been in place of the actual historical monetary policy in the Czech Republic. To assess the performance of McCallum´s rule, I calculate simulated paths for nominal GDP and money base, using counterfactual simulation method. The results suggest that, compared to the historical monetary policy, the rule would not be able to secure a smoother path of nominal GDP and would bring only a slight improvement in the central bank´s ability to keep average inflation on its target. These results are not convincing enough to support a decision in favor of replacing the current regime of inflation targeting with nominal GDP targeting regime based on McCallum´s rule. Even so, it would be possible to use the rule under the current regime as a benchmark or a monitoring tool for assessing the stance of monetary policy.

The paper's objective is to analyze the work of the Revolutionary Union Organization (ROH) in the Czechoslovak economy of the 1980s. The basic thesis of the paper is the assumption that ROH bodies preferred the interests of the representatives of the Czechoslovak Communist Party to those of workers. The relationship is analyzed on the basis of the employment legislation of the time and the impact of the union organization in its drafting. The paper also examines the contribution of the union organization in the course of the revolutionary changes in Czechoslovak society in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The analysis is based on a critique of sources from that era and a comparison of the role of the ROH in the 1980s and the role of the unions during Prague Spring. On the basis of the objectives set for this paper, the conclusion is that the ROH did have an impact on the work lives of working people, but its leadership lacked funds and, above all, the willingness to effectively protect the interests of working people. Hence, until December 1989, the ROH remained an organization serving, above all, the interests of the Communist Party.

This paper focuses on empirical analysis of selected relationships derived from the Austrian Business Cycle Theory (ABCT). Special attention is paid to consumer durable goods. ABCT suggests that change in the rate of interest or credit availability induces change in relative consumption, production, and relative price of durable goods. This paper aims to verify whether the changes in these variables are consistent with Austrian theory. Several hypotheses are established and tested, using vector autoregression and Granger causality tests. The analysis is based on US time series data, covering the period between 1985 and 2013. The analysis failed to prove conclusively the validity of the hypotheses.

The high foreign direct investment inflows to the Czech Republic in the last twenty years influenced the Czech economy on many levels. The aim is to analyze the extent of effects on volume and structure of export of the Czech Republic and from a broader perspective on other items of balance of payments. It also describes the development of foreign direct investment inflows in relation to investment incentives and indirect effects which are foreign owned companies operating in the export performance of domestic firms.

In the 1940s Hollywood saw the biggest changes in its history. Based on a series of antitrust investigations, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to break up the Hollywood studio system -- production, distribution and exhibition. As a result, the studios were forced to sell their affiliated theatre chains and to abandon certain business practices, such as block booking and blind selling. The purpose of my thesis is to clarify how the film industry was affected by this intervention and whether these changes should have occurred, in the first place.