ECONOMICS
If we think in terms of Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS states , the real milestone is now what happens with political transition ? Can there be a political transition away from the first generation of leaders in Central Asia , the holdovers from the last days of the Soviet Union ? In Central and Eastern Europe , we see the transition to having a liberal democracy being entrenched but we also see the waves of populism in Poland and in Hungary . The question is whether or not we can get back to a more pluralistic society in terms of the way policies are made . I am not the one who thinks that just because a populist party won , there is a flaw in democracy ; the actual feature of democracy is that you get to elect who you want , whether or not they are good , and if they behave like idiots when they are there , “ well you know that is really on you , because you voted for them .” But , in terms of a milestone , it ’ s where they go from here . Can we balance representation and sometimes valid concerns with overarching protection of the important liberal democratic institutions which got us here ? And what lessons are there for Central Asia ?
In your opinion , what disciplines now need to be given special attention in education , what needs to simplify , and which require the immediate introduction for undergraduate and master ’ s degrees into the curriculum ?
This is a good question , especially thinking about what is happening with online education and the fact that most of us , if we have been teaching , we have been teaching on the computer into a void , because many students never turn on their cameras . Students still do not want to be seen , which is just like in class when they sit back and keep their eyes down , so it seems like we are just talking into a void . And then if you are a student , you know , you pay a lot of money , depending on where you are , for this kind of experience , but the university experience should be more than just the lectures you receive . Understanding this , that students learn in different ways , helps us grasp how difficult this has been for them and this isolation that comes with lockdowns .
I would say the educational system definitely needs a kind of rethink , but it ’ s always been that way , the tension between how different people learn , how we get the most amount of information to most people , knowing that some specific people might be left behind . I think one thing that can come out of this is how important research and science ( scientists ) are to be able to do something like the vaccine in such a short amount of time . I mean , look at what happened yesterday – the United States landed the a rover “ Perseverance ” on Mars ; in the middle of a pandemic we can still go to Mars . I think it shows science – how we need to have these advances , how we need to keep pushing forward and keep pushing the limits of what humans can do , and human resilience . Once again , we need to look at the best practices that come out of this . The problem of course is that we all got shoved into this educational scenario at the last minute and we all had to reorient ourselves . And I think we ’ ve had enough time that we can understand the best practices and what works and what doesn ’ t . But there has to be a rethink , and I think there needs to be an emphasis on much more tailored , much more personalized , much more flexible approaches towards education and education delivery .
Christopher , what do you think of the current situation in the world ? What is your view of all that is happening ?
When can we get back to normal is the key question , and I think we will never get back to normal in the way we once knew and it is fine ; again , there are some things that need to change in terms of risk management . My worry is that we have given policy makers and politicians a taste of what they can do in a crisis , and if you give them the power to , we now see what they can do . Suddenly everything is a crisis . Now all of a sudden we need to shut down here , now we need to do this or we ’ re all going to die – you see it with climate change . So that is my worry – whether or not we can actually move to decentralisation , whether we can actually keep our economy democratized where it cannot be shut down by a button from a far-flung capital . So that is a big thought now , and also , as I said , risk management , can we get back to it ?
What do you think of how Zoom and Teams help to solve productivity issues ?
Overall , the use of technology in the past year and the fact that we have been relying so much on Zoom and Teams and other kinds of platforms is great , but its consequences aren ’ t going to show up in the short term , in terms of productivity . Economists say in the short term that we vastly overestimate the effects of new technology , and in the long term we vastly underestimate it . The internet can become an excellent tool of decentralisation , moving from our lives spent in travel to and from work , adding to our time spent with family . There are going to be far-reaching consequences in terms of this , but they are far out in the future as we absorb these new ideas and procedures and processes and ways of doing business .
What effect do you think vaccines will have on countries ’ economies ?
There is always still a chance that I could catch COVID-19 in the future , or even now , with a vaccine , as they are not 100 % effective . But you know , widespread dissemination of the vaccine needs to be
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