An interview with Janos Kornai

Most of us are armchair economists. Whether our opinions are right or wrong , we can proffer them at little personal cost-the most we can lose is our r eputation. Not so for Janos Kornai. For much of his life, speaking freely w ould have led him to land in jail, or worse. He faced a difficult choice. H e could publish illegally, take the samizdat route, but reach a very small number of readers. He could instead respect a number of official taboos, pu blish legally, and reach a much wider readership. These difficulties have n ot prevented him from giving us the most informed and deepest critique of t he socialist system to date. This interview is, I hope, successful in showi ng the degree to which Kornai's life and work have been intertwined, and ho w he came to believe what he believes today. Kornai is sharing his time bet ween Harvard and Collegium Budapest. The interview took place in my office when I was visiting Harvard University in June 1998.