“As long as there is money, the war will be eternal.” Conversation with HSE co-founder Igor Lipsits

THIS MATERIAL (INFORMATION) IS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED BY FOREIGN AGENT ELIZAVETA NIKOLAEVNA OSSETINSKAYA OR CONCERNES THE ACTIVITIES OF FOREIGN AGENT ELIZAVETA NIKOLAEVNA OSSETINSKAYA 18+ Subscribe to The Bell newsletters! <a href="https://bit.ly/thebell_newsletter" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://bit.ly/thebell_newsletter</a> Support us: subscription to Patreon <a href="https://www.patreon.com/osetinskaya," target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.patreon.com/osetinskaya,</a> Boosty <a href="https://boosty.to/osetinskaya," target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://boosty.to/osetinskaya,</a> one-time donation <a href="https://donate.osetinskaya.io," target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://donate.osetinskaya.io,</a> recurring payments via PayPal <a href="https://www" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www</a> .paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=BDLBJNFEBQYAU Telegram channel of Elizaveta Osetinskaya <a href="https://t.me/osetinskayaliza" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://t.me/osetinskayaliza</a> Igor Lipsits is a Doctor of Economics, one of the founders of the Higher School of Economics, author of school textbooks and Chubais’s “terrible enemy” on privatization issues. In 2023, Lipsitz’s contract as a HSE teacher was not renewed, and in 2024 he was declared a foreign agent and all textbooks were removed from the school curriculum. Lipsitz himself explains this by speeches in the Ukrainian media - he believes that Russia is “deeply guilty” before Ukraine and it is important to publicly indicate this position. We met with Igor Vladimirovich at his home in Lithuania and talked about how the Russian economy works now, how much money goes into war, who makes money from it, and also about why Russian people want to fight, how society works in Russia and what awaits Russian education in the coming years. Timecodes: 00:00:00 Teaser! 00:01:46 “You were the queen of Vedomosti back then,” Lipsitz about the first meeting with Osetinskaya 00:03:50 Why Lipsitz decided to live in Lithuania 00:07:42 The Russian economy is growing. This is true? 00:09:44 “Russia is naked now, it has no margin of safety” 00:10:55 What&#039;s wrong with the new import substitution? 00:12:08 “People who talk about economic prosperity amuse me” 00:13:59 Osetinskaya’s address to the audience 00:14:33 Why Russia will not be able to build its own power plants 00:19:01 “People want to believe that there is a bright future ahead.” (spoiler - it&#039;s not) 00:20:09 Why you can’t build a business on gray imports 00:22:23 Why there is no pharmaceutical industry in Russia 00:23:39 “This amount has decreased by 4 times over the year” - about the profitability of Russian companies 00:25:15 “Let’s go back to the 90s,” - how the stock market in Russia works now 00:27:52 “It will not be possible to maintain quality” - about the fate of foreign companies in Russia 00:32:45 How do they treat Russians in Lithuania? 00:34:21 “They adopted a plan for preparing a mass evacuation” - are they afraid of Russian tanks in Lithuania? 00:36:50 Why were you made a foreign agent? 00:37:12 “We did not have time to create a new Russian economic school” 00:40:05 How much does Russia spend on war? 00:42:09 How Russians’ money is “pumped” to finance the war 00:46:28 “Are you not a patriot?” How Soviet history repeats itself 00:47:23 How much do Russians earn from the war? (spoiler - a lot) 00:49:57 There are not enough blue collar workers in Russia 00:52:40 What do the elites want and should we expect nationalization? 00:55:34 How many more resources does Russia have for the war? 00:57:14 “I predicted a wave of man-made disasters” 00:59:09 Why did Lipsitz students leave Russia? 01:00:34 About Siluanov, Nabiullina and other technocratic economists 01:01:48 “Yudaeva went to get an IMF loan for Russia.” Lipsitz conjecture 01:02:29 “The Russian people want the country to fight” 01:04:00 What is a super-extractive economy 01:04:24 Why Russian education and science will degrade 01:07:27 What will happen to social sciences in Russia? 01:08:08 Can common sense win there? - No 01:09:58 How the Higher School of Economics began 01:11:35 Why was Gaidar against the creation of “Tower”? 01:12:26 “It was a pure startup” 01:15:43 Why did Lipsitz start writing school textbooks? 01:18:10 “This discredits the image of our homeland,” for which Lipsitz’s textbooks were banned 01:21:07 How much did Lipsitz earn from textbooks? 01:22:25 “The situation is lousy,” - about the Russian labor force 01:24:06 Which of the scientists remaining in Russia can you trust? 01:26:23 Why Russia will no longer be able to make money from oil 01:29:06 How Khodorkovsky brought order to the oil industry 01:30:24 “This is a disaster,” - about the budget and the price of oil next year 01:31:28 How much money does Russia have left? 01:32:26 “When pension delays begin, it will be completely sad” 01:34:58 How many “normal” people are there in Russia? 01:38:42 “Three Russias” - what is it 01:40:34 “Fast and big money,” - what a Russian person dreams of 01:41:24 Why there will be no revolution in Russia 01:44:26 The degradation of education has been going on since the times of the Russian Empire 01:49:48 “Taking away retail is a sacred matter.” About the redistribution of Wildberries 01:51:58 How many resources does Ukraine have left? 01:53:08 Is it profitable for the EU to support Ukraine? 01:56:17 “Russia is still ruled by communists” 00:59:19 How “Angel of God” Gorbachev destroyed the budget, but saved 3 million Russians 02:00:23 “The West is saving Russia with all its might” 02:03:12 “As soon as you start reforming in Russia, everything starts to swing” 02:03:52 “I was Chubais’s terrible enemy on privatization” 02:08:13 Lipsitz on an alternative privatization model 02:09:29 Blitz