The Permanent Oppositionist

• Published in: Conversations on Russia
• Main Author: Yavlinsky, Grigory
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 13-04-2006
• Subjects: Yeltsin; Nemtsov; Grigory Yavlinsky; economic reform; tax budget; sectoral reforms
• ISBN: 9780195300611; 0195300610
• DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195300611.003.0008

This chapter offers a blow-by-blow assessment of the economic reforms of the 1990s given by Grigory Yavlinsky in mid-2002. He presents a strong pro-Western, liberal, and reformist stance but nonetheless opposes what he perceives as the extreme pro-market thrust of the Yeltsin team in favor of a social democratic approach. Yavlinsky is the best known of the liberal academic economists who became involved in Russia's economic reform. He was a prominent figure in economic reform debates, including policy measures enacted under Nemtsov in the Nizhny Novgorod region and a number of tax budget and sectoral reforms. Yavlinsky has made his mark as the permanent oppositionist of Russian politics as the founder of the opposition Yabloko group, being twice a presidential candidate, and a fierce critic of the Yeltsin reforms.