Csillag István - Egy miniszter inasévei

18 years ago, in May 2002, I unexpectedly became a minister. Becoming a minister unexpectedly is not easy to explain to someone who thinks of the ministry as nothing more than a Canaan flowing with milk and honey, a congregation of "powerful hedgehogs", freedom from everyday worries, handing out orders from the captain's bridge of the ship. It is perhaps more difficult to understand why I still remained a minister, after events that clearly predicted that these years would not only be years of success and clear recognition. The dear Reader can get to know the lasting memories, achievements and failures of this period for me, in the hope that recalling them will be instructive for others. The writings compiled in the book are not analyses, but on-the-spot and personal reports about - according to my own knowledge, memory, and biases - what happened to me, and because being a minister is never just a one-man story, what can (could) happen to us.
All flashbacks are confessions without resolution. In the absence of a solution - because I cannot exonerate myself, and history will judge me as it is - there will be no relief, but if one has a straight spine, it is not only worthwhile, but also a duty to face yesterday's self.

István Csillag was born in 1951 in Budapest. Graduated from law university, candidate of economics, associate professor at Óbuda University Faculty of Economics. He was a civil servant in the Ministry of Finance, a researcher and analyst at Pénzgykutató Reszvénytársaság, but he was also a former Minister of Economy and Transport and even the president of Eximbank. Between 1980 and 1987, he participated in all major economic reform attempts, then he was one of the editors of the paper "Fordulat és reform" (1987), editor and professional leader of the 10-year program of the Free Democrats Association entitled "The Program of the Change of Eras".