Yegor Gaidar Interview: Conversations with History; Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley
Page 8 of 9
As I hear the complexity of these tasks that you undertook, I am amazed by your capacity to undertake all of this and I want to understand exactly again (we talked a little about this), what motivates you? What allows you to continue in this turmoil? In this chaos? And undertake these different directions when, in fact, you don't know if it's really going to work? I mean your theory suggests that it will, but what does it take? Enormous self-confidence? What are the elements there of undertaking such an enormous enterprise?
Well, somebody had to do it. Maybe it could be another person and maybe he would be sitting in my place, but somebody would have to do it and answer these questions.
In some of your press conferences and I think just a few moments ago, you
were suggesting that in a way, you realized that you might be a sacrificial
lamb.
Of course.
But since you were not a professional politician, were you willing to try because you knew, after having done it, you could leave the scene?
Well partly yes. First of all, the problem was that nobody was sure that we would be able to leave the scene. When the situation was discussed in '91, nobody was sure that we would be able to just peacefully leave the scene, that we would not be shot, for instance. But the point that I never had political ambitions, and never wanted political roles, and my only dream was to come back to my academic work -- of course it helped. I didn't have to think all the time about how it would influence my long-term political prospects, whether it would help me or impede me in being elected president in the year 2008, etc.
It sounds like there was a kind of ferment and excitement in this team that you put together. It sounds almost like the New Deal in the U.S. but in a much more difficult situation. You were running an academic seminar in a way, but actually applying your discussions quite immediately.
Yes. We started as an academic seminar and somehow we had to implement our ideas in practice.
But now, leaving the burdens of office is not a problem for you. It must be very difficult for somebody with an academic temperament to be thrown in this vortex.
Yes, it is.
What are the sort of pressures on you, other than you never sleep, it sounds like?
First of all, it is the problem of a different time clock. When you
are an academic, you are planning your life in weeks, months, and years. When
you are starting to be an advisor, for instance, members of the Council of
Economic Advisors, you are planning your time in days and hours. When you are a
decision maker in a situation of extreme crisis, you have to plan your time in
minutes. On many occasions you have 15 minutes to listen to the arguments and
then to make solutions on which a terrible lot depends in your country. The comfort of thinking
30 minutes calmly is an enormous comfort for a decision maker in a crisis. And
for the academician, not being able to think for 30 minutes calmly is a very serious
pain.
What would you advise young people in terms of studying in the academy and preparing for this world?
I hope they never will be in my situation like myself and my
colleagues. Just understand one thing -- revolutions sound terribly romantic.
It's nice to read about them, very interesting to study. My advice -- never
experience one yourself because it's terribly difficult for your country.
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