The revelation, made public this week, about Mr. Barta, a member of a rightist party that came to power in an anti-corruption drive, has embarrassed the government of Prime Minister Petr Necas, which was elected in May on a platform calling for economic and legal probity.
When Mr Zeman blasts the right for running an "economy of mafias", he strikes a chord.Mr Zeman might bring probity to economic management, but would he bring competence?
But for everybody to slash public spending when growth is faltering and unemployment remains stubbornly high risks undercutting the goal of fiscal probity by slowing economic growth and reducing tax revenues.
It is worth remembering that Ireland's government was a model of fiscal probity prior to the economic meltdown.
The IMF, traditionally a fierce guardian of budget probity, is pushing for broad fiscal loosening if the global economic outlook darkens.
Europe's first economic downturn will put an end to its new and much-heralded fiscal probity.
I thought President Obama was very wise in his choices for his team of economic advisers: well-trained, centrist economists, bolstered by Paul Volcker, a towering figure of probity and wisdom.
After becoming a symbol of America's economic turnaround in the 90's, and anointing himself the nation's high priest of fiscal probity, he lent crucial aid and comfort to the most fiscally irresponsible administration in history.
It's the kind of system that has a lot of problems: it produces abuse of power; has difficulty satisfying civil society; creates a middle class which is pretty conservative because it has benefited from economic reform, but also has a lot of expectations and demands of the government: efficiency, services, probity.
"I would call that the pie-in-the-sky economic period," Mr. Bush said last year as he presented his dividend tax cuts as a way to restore probity to corporate America.
