By the 1980s, in some Eastern Bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, intensive reform thinking had begun in the economy, with reform advocates appearing in government and ministry positions, in expert groups in the national bank and planning agencies, and in government back offices. After the collapse of the state socialist regimes in 1989-91, these circles became the leaders of economic policy, in more than one case occupying the position of prime minister.
My paper examines the members (prime ministers, finance ministers, and economy ministers) of the cabinets of ten post-communist countries (Visegrad countries, Baltic states, Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia) where reformist economic intellectuals emerged during the socialist period. I extend the database (based on Casal Bértoa, F. 2025) to include the central bank governors of these states, covering the period 1989/1991-2024.
The paper examines the key economic/financial leaders from three perspectives. Firstly, the paper examines the key economic/financial leaders from the perspective of the reform generation, focusing on how the main actors of the period were involved in economic reform in the 1980s, their backgrounds, and whether they belonged to a particular group of experts. The second aspect, which looks at party affiliation, contributes to this. In most cases, members of the reform generation are involved in government as independent experts. Over time, however, these independents become party-affiliated, straining the image of the independent expert. Finally, I look at economic policy-ideological roles as a third variable. Here, I differentiate between the shock therapist, the cautious reformer, and the transactive caretaker as analytical images.
I contend that these three variables can be combined to characterize the reform generation that significantly influenced the economic transitions following communism. Until lately, some of them have been major players in the economic policies of Eastern European countries during the 2008 and COVID-19 crises.
