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MEGA INTERVIEW
I must say, I appreciate much more in United States helped me, but it was
the opportunity I had to make not completely decisive. But, you know,
a contribution to the country economic establishment in Poland, and
through policies than to be I guess in most other countries, was
rewarded a prize. It is better to do against the reforms. When I presented my
something in the real life than to program in late 1989, most of the official
describe the life economists were against it. They said it is
impossible to introduce the convertibility
if they invest they will reap the benefits of money at once. And they had nothing
and they would not be robed in a case to offer. So there were opponents, some
of a change in the political situation. professors of socialist economics. People
Countries which manage to follow these would say, oh, this is a professor who is
rules ultimately are successful. But, let against, and these were dangerous titles.
me repeat, one has to fight all the time So, I did not get any advice from them. But
for good policies. they did not care. I had my own advisors.
Regarding the education sector in
Poland, according to certain indicators we
are doing pretty well, like the Pisa testing
scores. As far as the higher education
is concerned, we have expansion, huge
expansion, but probably we have too many
humanists, like graduates from political
studies, international studies, who have
problems with finding decent jobs, and
not enough technical staff, engineers. I
hope that the young people will respond
to the market incentives.
Early in your life you were exposed You have been awarded an
to education abroad, obtaining your extraordinary large number of honors
master’s degree in New York. How has from truly respectable parties. But one
this experience affected your professional of the strongest descriptions of you that
development? What are Poland’s steps I have seen is that you are probably the
regarding the education sector? best and most known economist in the
world who has not yet received the Nobel
L. Balcerowicz: There are two separate Prize. Do you think it may happen?
questions. Under socialists, there was no
real economics. Socialist economics was L. Balcerowicz: No, I don’t think so,
a negative knowledge. I do not know how because the Nobel Prize is awarded
it was in former Yugoslavia. Fortunately, I for science, although not everything
was not very good in socialist economics. in economics is science. So, I am not
And as a young assistant I was teaching disappointed. I must say, I appreciate
international economics which was much more the opportunity I had to make
much more oriented. Initially I believed a contribution to the country through
in Keynes, but then I stopped when I policies than to be rewarded a prize. It
read a bit more. My doctoral dissertation is better to do something in the real life
which I defended in 1975 was related to than to describe the life.
technical change and I read a lot and
realized it is very much dependent on Thank you very much for the interview.
free market and on private enterprises.
And this was also a weak spot in former Prepared by Zoran Jovanovski
Yugoslavia, no private entry. So, this stay
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