In this episode, co-hosts Enrique Mendizabal and Goran Buldioski interview Richard Durana, co-founder and director of INESS (Institute of Economic and Social Studies) in Slovakia.
Richard describes his move from chemistry to economics and how INESS has operated for two decades in a largely hostile, left-leaning political environment, emphasising both policy advocacy and public education. He compares Slovakia’s post-communist trajectory to the film Rocky, citing early-2000s reforms, foreign investment, and later decline amid higher taxes and unpredictability. He outlines INESS’s methods—media engagement, journalist briefings, large-scale education programs like the Economics Olympiad, and projects such as Price of the State and the Bureaucracy Index—alongside a fundraising strategy built on donor diversity, local institutional support, and zero government funding.
This episode is part of a series, Think tanks in a changing Europe, supported by the Open Society Foundations. You can listen to the whole series here.
Learn more about the INESS and the information discussed during this podcast.
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