Evgeniy Yasin: ‘Our Conference is Interesting and Useful to All’
On April 5th the XII International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development will start at the Higher School of Economics. Evgeniy Yasin, Academic Supervisor of the HSE, told us about the topics of the conference and its relevance.
— Dr. Yasin, what will be the topics of the forthcoming conference? Why did the organizers decide to discuss these issues?
— In recent years we have been choosing topics for discussion that are, on one hand, relevant for the development of Russian economy as a whole, and on the other hand – important for the prosperity of Russian citizens, their quality of life and so on. This year we decided not to depart from this tradition and to continue in the same way. The forthcoming conference will have two main topics. The first is the global economic crisis and prospects for modernization in Russia. This is exactly the title of the first plenary session, where the HSE will present a report prepared by Sergey Aleksashenko, HSE Director for Macroeconomic Research, Natalya Akindinova, Director of the ‘Center of Development’ Institute, and myself. The report particularly focuses on some key problems that need to be solved, based on the assumption that, for a number of reasons, the world economy will not experience a sudden resurgence.
The second topic of the conference is also very interesting. Based on a suggestion from Expert journal, we made a comparison of the level of life in 1990 and 2009, before and after the crisis. Special methods were used, so that we could get an accurate portrait of what really happened and what situation we are in today. In addition to this, such studies usually calculate some indicators which characterize the current level of consumption. But we chose another option: apart from current consumption, we compared the data on the accessibility of housing, education and healthcare for the population. I believe that the presentation on this topic which will take place as part of the second plenary session dedicated to the living standards and mode of life in Russia will be of interest for everyone. It covers the problems of inequality and shows what proportion of Russians could benefit from the results of the reforms and who could not, and it also considers issues relating to the labour market.
We also took into account these two big themes when inviting speakers for the plenary sessions and, in addition to that, the conference programme includes many topical sessions, roundtables and so on, which develop the major topics of the plenary sessions. On the first day among our guests we are expecting to see Igor Shuvalov, First Deputy Prime Minister, Alexey Kudrin, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Elvira Nabiullina, Minister of Economic Development, and Alexey Ulukaev, First Deputy Director of the Central Bank of Russia. Leszek Balcerowicz, a Polish reformer, will be an honourary guest. He was the person who was an example for Egor Gaidar when he decided to carry out his reforms. Many other experts will also speak at the session, such as Axel van Trotsenburg, Vice President of the World Bank, Sergey Guriev, Rector of the Russian Economic School, and Vladimir Mau, Rector of the Academy of National Economy under the Russian Government. So, the session is expected to be rather interesting.
At the second plenary session we are expecting Tatiana Golikova, Minister of Health and Social Development, Andrey Fursenko, Minister of Education and Science, and many others. I would particularly like to mention Saskia Sassen. She is a renowned American sociologist and economist and expert in urban studies – a promising area which will from now on be developed at the HSE.
In general, I strongly believe that the organizers should not take too much upon themselves, since in the end of the day what makes a conference interesting is its participants. It often happens that small sessions away from the spotlight turn out to be the most interesting, since interesting people come there. That’s why I regret only one thing – that it is impossible to visit all the sessions and roundtables, I’ll have to choose carefully.
— The very rich conference programme contains many interesting events. Which of them you will definitely visit?
— I always make my own schedule. I shall definitely visit all plenary sessions at the Polytechnic Museum and shall listen to all the presentations, including Leszek Balcerowicz’s speech, of course. By the way, he was recently awarded the title of honourary professor of the Higher School of Economics.
Then I shall participate in the sessions dedicated to culture – this is my hobby. I’m planning to listen to the honourary report by Nikolay Lapin, a prominent sociologist, as well as public lectures by Daniel Treisman and Marek Dabrowsky. Mr. Treisman will speak about the results of the study of mass manias, in particular when a distorted concept of reality appears in a society, panics start and so on. The first example is the fear of a nuclear war and the second is the perceived danger from genetically modified food. There were no real reasons for either of these, but some myths appeared, and he studied them. I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that as part of the conference, on April 4th and 8th, a number of public lectures and seminars will take place. In addition to those things I’ve mentioned, I am always interested in discussions on macroeconomic problems, since these provide a good list of speakers, both from the staff of the HSE, and the conference guests.
— In your view, what is the academic and social importance of this conference?
— The proceedings from our previous conferences stand on the bookshelf in my office, and when I work on new articles I use those papers. It seems to me that the best proof of the importance of a conference is that someone reads the papers, goes back to the ideas expressed and develops them. This demonstrates that the event is useful. I would say that our conference is not only a review of the achievements of Russia, but also of the world. And if the conference plants some seeds which will later blossom into academic achievements, its goal will have been reached.
I think that in some senses our conference is more useful and interesting not for the academic community, but for society as a whole, since key problems connected with the country’s development are discussed here. For example, Vladimir Putin has initiated the creation of expert groups for the improvement of the country’s socio-economic development strategy up to 2020. And we, essentially, annually organize a platform where experts can discuss the most important problems and hopefully find solutions. We have already spoken about the global crisis and considered problems related to innovations. The Higher School of Economics is an initiator and regular consultant on the reforms in education and health care, as well as a critic of some governmental decisions. That’s why each of those people who leaf through the proceedings of our conference at home find something interesting. It provides a rather impressive image of what is to be done, what problems are to be solved and what aspects of the socio-economic life are to be studied.
We are doing everything within our power. But we are willing and ready to do a lot more. I look at today’s undergraduate, master’s and postgraduate students with great hope – they shall be able to rise higher and do much more.
Andrey Shcherbakov, HSE News Service