The Centre for Research into Post-Communist Economies

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Newsletter #32 - Spring/Summer 2008

A Tribute to Ralph Harris by the CRCE

Lord (Ralph) HarrisThere was a celebration at the CRCE to launch a book in honour of the late Lord (Ralph) Harris of High Cross.

Lady Harris was our special guest. Ljubo Sirc, Silvana Malle and Elena Zhuravskaya shared their memories. Also present were Christine, daughter of Friedrich Hayek, and Eve Polekoff, a student of Ralph's at St Andrews. Other friends included Robert Whelan of Civitas and Colin Robinson, former IEA editorial director & editor of Ralph Harris in his own words (see www.iea.org.uk).

Helen Szamuely provided delicious Central European Snacks – always appreciated by Ralph. Her tribute in the EU Referendum blog appears in the book. http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2008/06/another-book-launch.html

… and finally some quotes from the volume itself:

"Lord Harris will make it into history primarily as one of those who paved the way for a radical turn in the western economic policy. But his contribution to the events associated with the collapse of socialism should be also remembered."

Yegor Gaidar, Russian Finance Minister in 1992.

"All his life Lord Harris had been engaged in the fight against the socialist ideology, whether it was coming out from behind the Iron curtain, from his own political opponents, or from the efforts to create a superstate in Europe. He knew the value of freedom and he knew that it cannot be taken for granted and guaranteed by the Central European countries' accession to the European Union."

Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic.

"I still have the lively vision of Ralph shivering within his totally inadequate Burberry's raincoat, with his red waistcoat, his pipe and his legendary marine cap on the Red Square, hile we were waiting for paying a visit to Lenin's corpse. We discovered that western leather shoes were really the last thing to wear when it is so cold. We could not even let our feet lay on the floor of the antique Soviet Ziss car that drove us around Moscow with its broken heater."

Henri Lepage, partner in CRCE's Russian joint-venture.

Book Launch

On the 13th February the CRCE provided the venue for Edward Lucas of The Economist to lead a discussion on the topic of his timely book, The New Cold War. Do read Edward's wonderful blog (http://edwardlucas.blogspot.com), which contains reviews for his excellent new publication. The author signed the many copies that were sold.

CRCE Meetings

On 11th March, Raul Eamets from Tartu, Estonia, gave a talk on "How Flawed is the Estonian Economic Miracle?"

He is Professor of Macroeconomics at the University of Tartu, and Director of the Institute of Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. Raul is also a long-term colleague of the CRCE and has contributed to the journal Post-Communist Economies and participated in the CRCE colloquium last year. His paper is published in The Problems for Post-Communist Countries in the Context of the European Union, CRCE 2007. Since 2004 he has served on the (Supervisory) Board of the Bank of Estonia.

Jože Dežman, Director of Museum of Contemporary History in Slovenia visited London in May to discuss his role as Chairman of the Committee for Hidden Graves Registration. Keith Miles, British-Slovene Association, and Lisl Biggs-Davison arranged a meeting at the House of Lords, thanks to Lord Pearson of Rannoch. John Austin MP, Chair of the British Slovenia Parliamentary Group also met with Professor Dežman. That evening, Jože Dežman gave a presentation at the CRCE where his book, Slovenia 1945-1060 was also launched. All copies were sold to enthusiastic members of the audience.

Outside Meetings

On January 22nd there was a conference on North Korea at Chatham House. Lisl Biggs-Davison encountered Jan Winiecki there, whose speech was filled with common sense.

Lisl Biggs-Davison attended a lecture on foreign policy given by John Bolton, until recently U.S. Ambassador to the UN, hosted by Global Vision.

Visitor From Kosovo

CRCE Trustee Alex Standish has been in Priština since 2007. Calling at the office, he arranged dispatch of part of the late Joseph Porket's library for educational institutions in Kosovo. The CRCE is grateful to Barbara Porket for the invaluable books.

Publications (see all publications)

A Tribute to Ralph Harris by the CRCE

with contributions from Yegor Gaidar and Václav Klaus and others. Occasional Paper no. 14 price £9.95 June 2008. This title is available to newsletter readers for £7.50 (free P&P UK).

Post-Communist Economies

The CRCE's renowned quarterly journal is in its twentieth year of publication. Issues 1 & 2 are available and include articles on Pension system reform in Central and Eastern Europe; pollution reductions in the Czech Republic; Decentralisation and development in post-socialism: Post-Soviet studies and the transition: the case of the Russian Economy.

For information on subscriptions, contact the CRCE or: www.tandf.co.uk/journals.

Past issues of the CRCE newsletter may be downloaded below