Economist Day in Russia

November 11 is Economist Day in Russia, which has been celebrated not so long ago, since 2015. This is one of the few holidays that was purposefully established by officials who issued the corresponding order. In this case, the Ministry of Economic Development created a directive, allocating people who are in one way or another connected with the economy a day a year when they can celebrate their professional holiday. This decision is long overdue. Interestingly, the term “economics” and similar definitions began to appear even before our era. Rulers changed, world cataclysms and natural disasters occurred, and everyone always had to organize the household. Economics has Greek roots and is translated exactly like this: “the art of housekeeping.” For centuries and even millennia, people have been planning households or planning larger-scale economic activities, rather intuitively, based on tradition and their own vision. Needless to say, this a priori meant inefficiency, including on the scale of the entire state. Only with the modernization of economic life, with the realization that professionals should deal with economic issues, and quite seriously, the situation began to change. So, immediately after the revolution, that is, in 1917, the People's Commissariat of Finance was created, which was then transformed by the Soviets into the Ministry of Finance. The day November 11 was not chosen by chance. It is believed that Catherine II, who actively adopted advanced European experience, issued a decree on this day (in 1765), according to which the Free Economic Society appeared in the Russian Empire. The prefix “free” means that the business executives who were part of it were not yet closely tied to the state itself. People, rather, were ordinary researchers who studied economic realities and their impact on economic activity. Based on this, they had the opportunity, or rather, “dare” to advise the authorities on how best to organize the national economy. Needless to say, thanks to the scientific approach to the matter, it became obvious that serfdom was an obstacle to development. It is known that it was the Free Economic Society that was one of the initiators of the abolition of serfdom, drawing a clear parallel between state revenues and the ineffective organization of the economy. Yes, it cannot be said that Economist Day in Russia is celebrated very widely, but people whose field of activity is directly or indirectly related to economics remember it. Often, numerous business structures and state enterprises celebrate this day to reward conscientious employees. Corporate celebrations are actively organized. And also, this is an ideal option for presenting the relatively recently established “Economist of the Year” award, which is awarded to outstanding researchers in this field on the initiative of public organizations and authorities. On this day it is customary to popularize economics and history. Also, business representatives whose activities are related to sales also reacted to the date. This is the day when sales are held, which has become a good tradition, first in the West and then in Russia. By the way, this is exactly how “Black Friday” appeared. It has been proven that it allows people not only to purchase goods at the best possible prices, but also for stores to make huge profits. Accordingly, the volume of taxes transferred to the local budget increases, which, in turn, has a positive effect on the economy. Plus, on this day it is customary to raise pressing issues that, due to globalization and the unification of the world’s economies, concern all people. You can often hear about how dangerous it is to live in a consumer society, but in order to get rid of this, it is necessary to reconsider the entire social system and radically reformat the world economy, which is not at all easy.