Gaidar Forum 2015: Macroeconomics: A Human Dimension
A panel discussion titled A Healthy Future Economy was held in the morning of Day 1 of the Gaidar Forum 2015; it was moderated by Chief Researcher of the Center for Macroeconomics and Finance of the Gaidar Institute Alexei Kudrin. The participants in the discussion raised some important economic and social policy issues: the problems of budgeting, including the need for an efficient structure of budget expenditure; human capital; and healthy population. The discussion was joined by the following leading experts and representatives of the socioeconomic bloc in the RF government: President and Chairman of the Board of Sberbank of Russia German Gref; Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Aleksey Ulyukayev; Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation Anton Siluanov; Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Economics at Harvard University Kenneth Rogoff; Deputy Prime Minister on Social Issues of the Russian Federation Olga Golodets; and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Danone Emmanuel Faber.
The midday plenary discussion was opened with the speech of Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev. Russia's Prime Minister admitted that the current economic problems in this country had been caused not only by external factors, but also by a number of internal problems. In his opinion, the upshot of all this was a total lack of trust displayed towards Russia, the introduction of bilateral economic sanctions, and the resulting losses suffered by all the parties involved.
The ensued discussion, moderated by Rector of the RANEPA Vladimir Mau, was joined by guests from abroad: Minister of State of Monaco Michel Roger; Chairman of Group of Thirty (and President of the European Central Bank from 2003 to 2011) Jean-Claude Trichet; eminent sociologist and Senior Research Scholar at Yale University Immanuel Wallerstein; Regius Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economics Christopher A. Pissarides; and Senior Vice President of The Coca-Cola Company Clyde C. Tuggle.
The moderator of the evening panel discussion Financial Policy: Normalization or Destabilization? was Rector of the Russian Foreign Trade Academy of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and Academic Director of the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy Sergey Sinelnikov-Murylev. The participants shared their opinions on the following issues: lessons learned in terms of financial policy from the latest crisis in the financial system; what is the meaning of the 'new normal' for the monetary policies of the developed and developing countries; how a budgetary policy can promote economic growth in the next few years; can Russia's three-year (2015–2017) budget create incentives for development; the triad of budget deficit, government debt management and reserve funds; the transition to freely floating and highly volatile ruble and its influence on Russia's financial policy.
The discussion was participated by Chairperson of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation Tatyana Golikova; Chairman of the Committee on Budget Issues and Taxes of the State Duma Andrey Makarov; Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation Aleksey Moiseyev; First Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation Kseniya Yudayeva; Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alfa Bank Group Petr Aven; and First Vice President of Gazprombank Ekaterina Trofimova.
In the course of the discussion, the moderator asked the speakers to answer two questions: do they believe that the budget should be sequestrated, or left as it is; if the budget needed to be cut or restructured, how this could actually be done.
In the framework of the expert roundtable titled Does Capitalism Have A Future? a new book with the same title was introduced - a collection of articles by Immanuel Wallerstein, Randall Collins, Michael Mann, Georgi Derluguian, and Craig Calhoun, issued by the Gaidar Institute Publishing House.