Jan Macháček was born in Prague in 1965, where he studied at the local University of Economics. During the Communist era, he was a member of the Czechoslovak dissident movement. After the revolution of 1989, he co-founded the country’s first independent media outlet »Respekt«, for which he still works as a commentator. Additionally, Macháček writes for the newspaper »Hospodářské noviny«, provides analysis for Czech Radio and Television, and runs a daily blog, focusing mainly on economic politics. He also gives lectures at international universities and conferences. Macháček holds the position of board chairman of the Vaclav Havel Library in Prague. He has received the Ferdinand Peroutka Award for Journalism several times. Furthermore, he is a guitarist of the (former underground) rock band Garage.
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