On June 25, a discussion of Raghuram Rajan’s book The Third Pillar: How Markets and the State Neglect Community took place in the Library of the Gaidar Institute and the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences (MSSES). The event was attended by Anna Nizhnik, Associate Professor of the Institute of Philology and History of the Russian State University for the Humanities, Candidate of Philological Sciences, MA in Political Science and International Relations;
In his book "The Third Pillar: How Markets and the State Neglect Community," Raghuram Rajan, former IMF Chief Economist and former Head of the Central Bank of India, analyzes the three pillars of society: the state, markets, and local communities. The author asserts that sustainable development of society is feasible provided that these three components interact in a balanced way. Raghuram Rajan states that the modern world’s state institutions and market mechanisms have largely limited local communities’ functions, but failed to assume their social role in full. In this respect, the economist puts forward a strategy for the revival of communities through the expansion of the powers of local government and the implementation of the principle of subsidiarity, suggesting a transfer of the maximum volume of decisions to the level where they are directly carried out. Consistent decentralization of management is seen as the key mechanism for this transformation.
The presentation of the book was held in an open discussion format where guests could listen to experts' opinions on the proposed methods of community revival and actively participate in the discussion by asking questions and sharing their views on the book.
