18/8/2020
Addressed to
Authorities, administrators, policy advisors and security services of Belarus – those, who want the best for their country and her citizens
Sent on the behalf of
Economists, who unanimously support the following statement:
Catastrophic economic hardship for Belarusian citizens is certain in the case of military violence, and further abuse of human and economic rights.
Economic history provides us with absolute certainty that the national prosperity rests on transparency and accountability of authorities, as well as their respect for human and economic rights. Without a clear commitment to restoring human and democratic rights and without the guarantees of resignation from confronting the social and political protests by force, the signatories of this letter are unanimous in predicting the Belarusian State’s devastating economic decline.
While the human cost of abusing human rights cannot be recovered, it is still possible for you, the persons who influence the policy, to find honour in steering the nation away from further tragedy. Otherwise, the misfortunes of the nation that will ensue are as follows:
- Human and financial capital flight will accelerate
Investment will evaporate, access to foreign capital will decrease, and market trust will be lost. Doctors, engineers, and skilled professionals will leave en-mass, depriving the nation of both the cultural tissue as well as the talent needed for the national wealth. Belarus will not become an “IT country” by blocking the Internet for its residents and businesses for political reasons. Extant research demonstrates that blocking internet comes with economic cost.
- Sovereign credit rating will descend into junk
The already high cost of Belarusian public debt servicing will further increase causing higher tax burden and/or lower public expenditures and deterioration of public services. A country where state imposes administrative control over the 3rd largest private bank will never have a high sovereign rating.
- Macroeconomic stability will be lost
The resulting loss of both human and financial capital together with very limited access to international funds will lead to macroeconomic instability. This will cause high inflation, devaluation of Belarusian rouble, increased dollarization of the economy and even bank runs.Belarus is a small open economy with little natural resources, which heavily needs educated and experienced professionals, foreign and domestic investment, access to international financial markets and macroeconomic stability.Just as economic history has shown that the lack of respect for human dignity sooner or later leads to economic ruin, it also shows that the bravery of officials speaking and actioning truth to power is a catalyst to prosperity.
Belarus deserves better future. Stand on the right side of history!
Signed by (in alphabetic order):
- Elżbieta Adamowicz, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Professor
- Aleś Alachnovič, CASE Belarus, Vice-President
- CarloAmenta, University of Palermo(Italy), Associate Professor
- EwaBalcerowicz, CASE, Chairwoman of the Supervisory Council; Association of Polish Economists (TEP), Vice-President
- Leszek Balcerowicz, Civil Development Forum (Poland), Founder; SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Professor; Deputy Prime Minister of Poland (1989-1991, 1997-2001); Chairman of the National Bank of Poland (2001-2007)
- Tadeusz Baczko, CASE(Poland), Professor
- Roel Beetsma, PhD, Amsterdam School of Economics, Professor and Vice-Dean
- Maria Bieć, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Associate Professor
- Marcin Bielecki, University of Warsaw, Assistant Professor
- Maciej Bitner, Polish Financial Supervision Authority, Chief Specialist
- Michele Boldrin, Department of Economics, Washington University in Saint Louis (USA), Joseph G. Hoyt Distinguished University Professor of Economics
- Philip Booth, St. Mary’s University (UK), Professor of Finance, Public Policy and Ethics
- Krzysztof Brzeziński, Oriel College of the University of Oxford, College Lecturer
- Michał Brzoza-Brzezina, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Associate Professor
- dr Paweł Bukowski, London School of Economics and Political Science, Research Economist; Institute of Economics of the Polish Academy of Sciences
- Joanna Clifton-Sprigg, University of Bath (UK), Assistant Professor
- Admir Čavalić, Association Multi (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Director
- Arkadiusz J. Derkacz, University of Social Sciences (Poland), Adjunct Professor; “Ambitna Polska” Foundation, Member of the Council
- Krzysztof Dobrowolski, University of Gdansk (Poland), Associate Professor
- Paweł Doligalski, University of Bristol, Assistant Professor in Economics
- Sławomir Dudek, PhD, Pracodawcy RP (Poland), Chief Economist; RIED SGH Warsaw School of Economics; Association of Polish Economists (TEP)
- Piotr Dybka, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Assistant
- Piotr Dworczak, Northwestern University (USA), Assistant Professor
- Anthony J. Evans, ESCP Business School (UK), Professor of Economics
- Michał Federowicz, Graduate School for Social Research, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Science, Director
- Georg Fischer, Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (Austria), Senior Research Associate; European Commission – Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Director for ‘Social Affairs’ (2016-2017)
- Guido Friebel, Goethe University (Germany), Chair for Human Resources
- Stanisław Gomułka, Polish Academy of Sciences, Member; Deputy Minister of Finance in Poland (2008); Professor of Economics in the London School of Economics (1970-2005)
- Jakub Growiec, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Professor
- Maciej Grabowski, Centre for Strategic Mind-Set; Institute for Responsible Finance
- Jan Hagemejer, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw
- Christopher A. Hartwell, PhD, Bournemouth University (UK), Professor; CASE Fellow
- dr Peter Hill, School of Business, Law and Society, St. Mary’s University (UK), Programme Director – Postgraduate Business, Senior Lecturer in Strategic Management
- Janusz Jankowiak, NWAI Brokerage House (Poland), Chair of Supervisory Board
- Elena Jarocinska, European Business School Wiesbaden
- Marek Jarocinski, European Central Bank and Barcelona GSE
- Halina Jaščanka, ex-McKinsey, Senior Engagement Manager
- Tomasz Karasek, Wharton MBA, Executive; Association of Polish Economists (TEP), Founding Member
- Jakub Karnowski, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Assistant Professor; Independent member of supervisory boards; World Bank Consultant
- Sergii Kiiashko, Kyiv School of Economics, Assistant Professor
- Marcin Kolasa, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Associate Professor
- Andrzej Kondratowicz, SWPS University (Warsaw), Professor of Economics; Association of Polish Economists (TEP), Founding Member
- Paweł Kopiec, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Assistant Professor
- Ludwik Kotecki, Economic Advisor to the Speaker of the Senate (Upper House of the Parliament in Poland)
- Robert Kowalski, Stanford University
- Piotr Kozarzewski, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin (Poland), Associate Professor
- Piotr Kuczyński, Association of Polish Economists (TEP), Financial Market Analyst
- Andrzej Leder , Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Science, Associate Professor
- Dariusz Ledworowski, PhD, CASE (Poland), Council Member
- Elena Leontjeva, Lithuanian Free Market Institute, President
- Aleksander Łaszek, PhD, Civil Development Forum (Poland), Vice-President
- Krzysztof Makarski, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Associate Professor
- Tomasz Marciniak, Strategy Consultant, Economist
- Tomasz Mickiewicz, Aston University (Birmingham, UK), Professor of Economics
- Wojciech Młodawski, Business Consulting, Economist
- Lorenzo Montanari, Property Rights Alliance (USA), Executive Director
- Sierž Naŭrodski, CASE Belarus, President
- Jerzy Osiatyński, Institute of Economics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Professor; Minister of Finance (1992-1993); Monetary Policy Council (2013-2019), Member
- Wojciech Paczos, PhD, Cardiff University (UK), Assistant Professor
- Radek Paluszynski, Department of Economics, University of Houston (USA), Assistant Professor
- Piotr Palutkiewicz, Economist
- Martin Pánek, Liberální Institute (Czechia), Director
- Julia Patorska, Association of Polish Economists (TEP), President
- Jakub Pawelczak, University of Minnesota (USA), PhD Student
- Mateusz Pipień, Department of Empirical Analyses of Economic Stability, Cracow University of Economics (Poland), Associate Professor
- Paweł Pisany, Institute of Economics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Assistant Professor
- Grzegorz Poniatowski, PhD, CASE (Poland), Vice-President
- Tanja Porčnik, Visio Institut (Slovenia), President
- Sergiusz Prokurat, PhD, Institute of Economics Polish Academy of Sciences
- Jerzy Pruski, Idea Bank, Acting CEO; Bank Guarantee Fund, CEO (2009-2016); The International Association of Deposit Insurers, President (2012-2015); National Bank of Poland, First Deputy President (2004-2008); Monetary Policy Council, Member (1998-2004)
- Marek Radzikowski, PhD, MBA, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Assistant Professor
- Dalibor Rohac, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI), Resident Scholar
- Andrzej Rzońca, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Associate Professor; Member of the Monetary Policy Council in Poland (2010-2016)
- Maja Rynko, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Assistant Professor
- Dobromił Serwa, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Associate Professor
- prof. Bican Sahin, Freedom Research Association (Turkey), President
- Urszula Skorupska, Institute of Economics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Deputy Director; Association of Polish Economists (TEP), Member
- Piotr Soroczyński, Polish Chamber of Commerce, Chief Economist
- Carlo Stagnaro, Istituto Bruno Leoni (Italy), Senior Fellow
- Maciej Stanczuk, Polish Confederation Lewiatan, Economic Advisor; Entrepreneur
- Małgorzata Starczewska-Krzysztoszek, PhD, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, Assistant Professor; Association of Polish Economists (TEP), Member of the Board
- Grzegorz Szczodrowski, PhD, Economics Faculty University of Gdansk, Assistant Professor
- Marek Tatała, Civil Development Forum (Poland), Vice-President
- Jan Teresiński, European University Institute (Italy), Researcher
- Vera Tkach, Consultant
- Andrzej Torój, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Associate Professor
- Rafał Trzeciakowski, Civil Development Forum (Poland), Economist
- Joanna Tyrowicz, GRAPE – Group for Research in Applied Economics
- Dominik Wasiluk, Institute for Social and Economic Studies (Poland), Member
- Joanna Wawrzyniak, Faculty of Philosophy and Sociology, University of Warsaw, Associate Professor
- Janusz Wdzięczak, PhD, Thomas Jefferson Research Center (USA)
- Wiktor Wojciechowski, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Associate Professor
- Cezary Wójcik, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Associate Professor; Center for Leadership, Founding Director
- Marcin Wolski, PhD, Economist
- Richard Woodward, CASE (Poland), Member of the Supervisory Council; University of Edinburgh Business School (UK), Lecturer in International Business
- Tomasz Woźniak, University of Melbourne, Lecturer
- Tomasz Wróblewski, Warsaw Enterprise Institute, CEO
- Marcin Zieliński, Civil Development Forum (Poland), Economist