I Plenary discussion “Confused man between despair and hope: the world situation and the Russian specificity”

Published: March 30th, 2017

Moderator:
Ruslan Grinberg, Co-chairman of the Moscow Economic Forum, scientific director of the Institute of Economics

Speakers:
James K. Galbraith, Professor of the School of Public Relations named after Lyndon Johnson, Chairman of the organization “United Economists For the reduction of armaments” (ECAAR)
Yuri Boldyrev, Member of the Editorial Board of the Russian business magazine, economist, writer
Grzegorz Kolodko, Professor of Kozminsky University, Minister of Finance of Poland (1994–1997, 2002–2003)
Oksana Dmitrieva, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes
Oleg Smolin, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Education and Science in the State Duma of the RF, Chairman of the All-Russian Public Movement “Education for all”
Marco Riccheri, General Secretary of the European Institute for Political, Economic and Social Research (EURISPES)
Alexander Buzgalin, Professor of the Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov
Ivan Starikov, Deputy Minister of Economics of Russia (1995-2000)


Moderator of the discussion, the co-chairman of the Forum, the scientific director of the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, RAS Corresponding Member Ruslan Grinberg called for answering the main question: the economy for man or man for the economy? It is important that the economy is only a means for the well-being of a person. Grinberg emphasized that there were a lot of different events that increased the uncertainty of the future this year.

"In the early 90's, we were all intoxicated by the omnipotence of the free market. And the reformers were exposed to fashion for market fundamentalism. Western colleagues said that we are starting to build a new life, we must act in the spirit of the only correct theory, to privatize, regulate and stabilize. Market dogmatism has become a very important guide to action, "Grinberg recalled.

In a similar situation in Poland, which Ruslan Grinberg cited as an example, they decided that they would carry out reforms without sacrificing democratic principles. Even if the reformers were to lose the elections, other experts would have come who would take a place in power. In the future, the power, which was headed by Grzegorz Kolodko, came to power.

Professor of the University of Kozmin Grzegorz Kolodko spoke about the inability to share market reforms and the development of democracy. "We need to use market reforms together with political ones, led by glasnost," explained Grzegorz Kolodko.

According to the economist, in Poland the economy is still working better than democratic institutions. By the way, moderator of the plenary discussion Ruslan Grinberg, referring to the Polish speaker, hinted at the deterioration of the political situation in the country. Perhaps for this reason, Grzegorz Kolodko said that in his country there is a struggle for rationalism, which is lacking throughout Europe today. The expert is sure that democracy is necessary, but the strategy must be developed on the basis of the correct economic theory. Because on the basis of neo-liberalism and populism, the economy will not work, we need a new pragmatism.

Ruslan Grinberg urged to take into account that the alarm has engulfed the whole world, human potential is under threat everywhere. Market fundamentalism has died, but its business lives. This is especially reflected in the growing social inequality.

James K. Galbraith, Professor of the School of Public Relations named after Lyndon Johnson, spoke about the problem of inequality and the growing gap between the rich and the poor. The beginning of a large-scale division of society by income, the speaker notes, is typical for the 30s of last century. The changes that occurred at that time had a serious impact on inequality throughout the world. In some countries, it may have been even brighter than in Russia. In the United States, there is also a fairly serious level of inequality.

"There is evidence that the level of inequality in the country can be correlated with the dollar. The fundamental problem of increasing inequality is the global financial regime. Those who run a modern system, protect this regime, "- says Galbraith.

When asked if the US will succeed in reducing inequality in society, James K. Galbraith answered in the negative. The political task of the United States is to recreate the values on which the state was built, the prices of the middle class and welfare for the whole country. But, according to the scientist, the new administration is unlikely to achieve change, since it does not have a clear program.

There is an active debate about the future development strategy now in Europe, says Marco Ricceri, Secretary General of the European Institute for Political, Economic and Social Research (EURISPES). Speaking at the Plenary discussion "A confused man between despair and hope: the world situation and Russian specificity," he stressed that the members of the European Parliament, the deputies say that the main task is to adjust the liberal approach, pay attention to planning to ensure economic development. In this part Europe is still weak, and new documents are being prepared, which will reflect what constitutes the social rights of the population.

It is necessary to take a fresh look at the basic principles of the economy. It is very important, the expert believes, to choose what to be guided as a new development strategy for 2030 with. All governments approve the "great adjustment" approach in order to understand the development of new processes in the global economy.

Science, in turn, must understand its social responsibility, direct its efforts so as to achieve social goals and improve the quality of human values that ethically must be instilled in society. Ethical, social values come to the forefront and in many states. Marco Ricceri cited Sweden as an example, where in three years they are going to switch only to renewable energy. Some other countries have also moved in this direction.

"We must understand this new scenario, we must decide: what is the basis of our development? We need to make a wise decision about what kind of future we want to build. We must integrate the knowledge of society and approach these issues from a new perspective, "concluded the Secretary General of the European Institute of Political, Economic and Social Research.

Oleg Smolin, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Education and Science, expressed disturbing thoughts on two vital social spheres in Russia - education and medicine, during the first plenary discussion of the MEF.

The Speaker explained the choice of problems in his speech by the negative trend of recent years, when the country's successes are estimated not by the growth of human potential, but only by economic indicators.

"The social well-being of people has worsened, it's a fact," Oleg Smolin said, "as they said in Soviet times, there is radio, but there is no happiness."

The expert cited surprising statistics, according to which the well-being of Russians has grown for the last few crisis years, and according to Oleg Smolin, there were six out of nine. Meanwhile, education has dropped from the 26th place to the 30th. Despite the fact that the Soviet bar on the success of primary school can be maintained, since we are still in the top three of the world's best primary schools, people working in the education system are anxious about the overall cultural level of the population, its literacy.

Judging by the polls, Russians do not read classical literature, they do not know the history of their own country, let alone knowledge about the history of human development.

As the speaker noted, the authorities are aware of this problem, the officials constantly report from the stands about the changes in education and health. However, the deputy is convinced, there are no core.

The speaker outlined the main problems that pull the level of human potential in Russia to an abyss: chronic underfunding of medicine and education, failure to comply with presidential decrees (ин еру polls, teachers earn less than indicated in the decrees of the highest official in the country, as well as healthcare workers).

Oleg Smolin summed up his speech with the main idea: the intelligent ones should better teach the power and cure it from market fundamentalism. And officials, in turn, should choose such vector of state policy that would be clearly aimed at the development of human potential.

Member of the Budget and Finance Committee of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg Oksana Dmitrieva with certainty called the crisis in the country man-made: this is the result of the actions of the Central Bank and the Government. According to the deputy, the state ignores the existence of an economic recession, without taking any measures: "The loan was expensive, it remained, there was no tax incentive either, and no, the reduction in effective demand in 2016 is higher than in 2015".

The current situation in the Russian economy Oksana Genrikhovna designated as "subfebrile crisis." The crisis situation has become "chronic": traditional self-regulation mechanisms do not work, the state does nothing. Today, profit is growing, and investment is falling. The volume of household deposits in banks is almost three times higher than the volume of loans to the population.

Dmitrieva urged to abandon the cliche that the Central Bank should issue emissions. According to her, the redistribution of funds to fight the crisis in favor of the banking system did not lead to the proper results. The population and business bring money to the financial system much cheaper and more than the Central Bank, as for the size of the key rate - it only increases the banks' margin.

Ivan Starikov, Deputy Minister of Economy of Russia (1995-2000), presented the united Eurasia project - the construction of a transport corridor from Vladivostok to Rotterdam. As a parallel, he reminded the audience of the history of the Trans-Siberian Railway, the creation of which entailed a serious economic and social upsurge.

According to the speaker, the country's economy is in a distressed situation: an unproductive raw material model is fixed, the infrastructure is worn out and corruption is blown to the face. There are also external economic challenges, such as the "Silk Road" bypassing Russia, which demonstrates the ambitions of China, claiming leadership in the global economy in the next decades.

He is sure that the project "United Eurasia", which value is estimated at 18 trillion, will have a tangible impact on the economic and social situation in the country, as well as on Russia's position in the global economy.

Yuri Boldyrev, a member of the editorial board of the Russian Economic Journal, an economist and publicist, shared his thoughts on the state of the country between despair and hope, about the peculiarities of the work of capitalism in modern society. He started his speech with following words^ "One of us can love opera, another can love ballet, but if we get lost in the forest, these differences are insignificant, because we have another agenda ..."

"When the robots are dangerous to us? It is then, when they begin to program themselves, or our opponent starts programming them," said Boldyrev. The speaker of the MEF conducted an analogy between robots and private business. According to him, to argue about whether private capital is needed or not is meaningless, it is important to understand whether it works for the benefit of society or not.

The WTO, according to the economist, is a mechanism when robots have escaped from control, they begin to dictate the rules of the game to us. This way leads to a dead end. The speaker cited as an example the case from the Russian reality, when the banking community received a profit of 500 billion rubles last year, while the real sector got about zero. They program the system so that they have a profit, explains Boldyrev.

The publicist turned to such an important topic as suppression of public opinion, lack of discussion. "Those who oppose corruption are taken as terrible enemies of the state," Boldyrev asserts, "just like a year and a half ago people were tied up for a referendum on the responsibility of the authorities".

«The authorities are washing their hands in the fact that it must do creative work, "the speaker points out. But this does not mean that the state does nothing. As an example, Boldyrev leads truckers who oppose that the funds go into private hands.
The same thing happens in the insurance industry. The struggle, according to Boldyrev, is not against scammers, people are being asked to bring resources into private hands, this should not be.

Yury Boldyrev sees the solution of the problem in the need to provide a state non-profit structure so that the state does not oblige people to send resources to private enterprises.

Alexander Vladimirovich Buzgalin, deputy co-chairman of the MEF, professor of the economic faculty of the Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov talked on the key problems of the modern times. According to the speaker, Russia has a special model of an oligarchic-bureaucratic model of late capitalism, where power is concentrated in the hands of the state nomenclature. The elite of the state is affiliated with business. You can not leave from such a system by changing power, says Buzgalin.

«There is a logical sequence: those who have power do what is beneficial for them, and they do it effectively, "explains the professor..

Alexander Buzgalin cited an ancient parable as an example: "A dragon sitting on a throne can cut off a tail, cut off horns, take away the throne, plant another, but everyone who sits on this throne will immediately get horns and a tail will grow." That is why the speaker sees the solution of the problem as reforming.

Buzgalin identified three main problems: economic stagnation, social injustice and dehumanization. In his opinion, the basis of Russia's new strategy should be selective planning and strong industrial policy in the economy, the socialization of property, the restriction of the power of the oligarchic and bureaucratic nomenclature. The speaker also stressed the need to create a humanistically oriented social, ideological and cultural policy.

"You need to use a carrot and stick for business. Business should work for the benefit of the state, "Buzgalin assured.

Another important principle, according to the speaker, is the development of the sphere of creative activity. Education must go through life, there must be the possibility of retraining workers.

«Workers are entitled. I would put an exclamation mark here. Today the worker is cattle, even if he is not the migrant », - the speaker noted.

Alexander Buzgalin expressed hope for the continued consolidation of people around alternative programs. According to the speaker, the only correct way is to change the system of public relations.

The co-chairman of the MEF concluded the discussion by saying that the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences is preparing a large report on the strategy of Russia.

"Its main items are human capital, salaries, professions. The agenda related to the mechanisms of the innovative economy is very important. One of the most important features of our program is infrastructure facilities that are not being used efficiently. But the main potential of our country, which is not used at all, is the spatial potential. It is this capital that will become our advantage over other countries, "summed up Grinberg.
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