Yegor Gaidar
1956 – 2009 Russian economist, acting prime minister of Russia
Economist who ran Russia's shock-therapy reforms, freeing prices at the start of the 1990s.
- Affiliations
- Russia's Choice
Yegor Gaidar was the young economist Yeltsin put in charge of turning a command economy into a market one. In January 1992 he freed most prices at a stroke, ending shortages but touching off hyperinflation that wiped out savings and drove living standards down sharply. He launched the mass privatization program that followed. Blamed by many Russians for the pain of the transition, he argued that the collapse was already underway and that rapid reform was the only way to avoid famine and worse. He later became a liberal politician and scholar.
Connections
- ally of Anatoly Chubais — Fellow young reformer on the shock-therapy team.
- ally of Anatoly Chubais — Fellow young reformer who ran the privatization side of the program.
- associate of Boris Yeltsin — Appointed him to run the economic reforms.
- associate of Boris Yeltsin — Appointed him to run the shock-therapy economic reforms.
In the timeline
- 1991 Yegor Gaidar named to lead economic reform the reform chief
- 1992 Shock Therapy and Economic Collapse the architect of the reforms
- 1992 Price liberalization begins the architect of price liberalization
- 1992 Voucher privatization program launched the reform-era leader
- 1992 Living standards collapse under shock therapy the reform chief