Per Andreas Hildhe Kleppe (13 April 1923 – 10 March 2021) was a Norwegian economist and politician for the Labour Party. He was the

Minister of Trade and Shipping The Minister of Trade and Shipping ( no, Handels- og sjøfartsministeren) was a councilor of state and chief of the Norway's Ministry of Trade and Shipping. The position was created on 6 December 1947 when the position of Minister of Trade and I ...

in 1971–1972 during the first cabinet Bratteli, and later the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

from 1973 to 1979 during the

second cabinet Bratteli Bratteli's Second Cabinet governed Norway between 16 October 1973 and 15 January 1976. The Labour Party cabinet was led by Trygve Bratteli (11 January 1910 – 20 November 1984) was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician with the No ...

and the

cabinet Nordli Nordli's Cabinet governed Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote ...

. In 1979 he was replaced by Ulf Sand, but Kleppe returned in 1980 to head the Secretariat for Long-Term Planning (until 1981). He served as General Secretary of the

European Free Trade Association The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a regional trade organization and free trade area consisting of four List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Europe, European states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerlan ...

(EFTA) from 1981 to 1988.

Personal life

Kleppe was born in

Kristiania Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

(now Oslo) in April 1923, a son of lawyer Knut Sigurd Kleppe and Nathalie Mathilde Andersen; the family moved to

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

when he was six years old. In 1951 he married editor Margaretha Eva Malmros Ström.

Political career

Deputy member of the Storting and State Secretary

As an elected politician Kleppe served in the position of deputy representative to the Norwegian Parliament from

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

during the term 1954–1957. On the local level he was a deputy member of

city council from 1951 to 1955. Kleppe graduated from the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

with the

cand.oecon. Candidatus oeconomices (male) or Candidata oeconomices (female), often abbreviated cand.oecon. is an academic degree in economics at Education in Denmark, Danish, Háskóli Íslands, Icelandic and Higher education in Norway, Norwegian universities ...

degree in 1956. He was appointed State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance from 1957 to 1962. From 1962 Kleppe was assigned full time secretary of Den finanspolitiske komité, and from 1963 to 1967 he was subdirector at EFTA in Geneva, and from 1967 to 1971 he headed Arbeiderbevegelsens utredningskontor ("The

Labour movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

's Research Office").

Minister of Trade and Shipping 1971–1972 and negotiations on EEC membership

Kleppe was the Minister of Trade and Shipping in the first cabinet Bratteli from 17 March 1971 to 18 October 1972. From 24 September 1971 he was also assigned the inaugural position of Minister of Nordic Cooperation, responsible for coordinating cooperation between the Nordic countries. As Minister of trade Kleppe was given the task to finish the negotiations of Norwegian membership of the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

(EEC). However, membership was turned down by the

1972 Norwegian European Communities membership referendum A referendum on joining the European Community was held in Norway on 25 September 1972. After a long period of heated debate, the "no" side won with 54% of the vote. Prime Minister Trygve Bratteli, who had championed a "yes" vote, resigned as a r ...

on 25 September 1972, and the Bratteli cabinet resigned. After this, from 1972 to 1973, Kleppe returned to his manager position at the Arbeiderbevegelsens utredningskontor.

Minister of Finance 1973–1979 and the "Kleppe package" against the financial crisis

Kleppe was appointed by Prime Minister Bratteli as Minister of Finance from 16 October 1973, in the

. This cabinet lasted until 15 January 1976, when the

took over. Kleppe continued as Minister of Finance until 8 October 1979, when there was a reorganisation of the cabinet, and Ulf Sand took over as responsible for the Ministry of Finance. Kleppe served six years as Minister of Finance, and he was the architect behind several important strategic choices of

economic policy The economy of governments covers the systems for setting levels of taxation, government budgets, the money supply and interest rates as well as the labour market, national ownership, and many other areas of government interventions into the e ...

. The so-called "", where the State contributed by offering improvements of certain benefits during salary negotiations between employer and employee organisations, came to be a central element to minimize

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

. In order to inhibit the threatening increase of unemployment, the government introduced several supportive measures and economic guarantees to the industry, in particular to

maritime transport Maritime transport (or ocean transport) and hydraulic effluvial transport, or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people (passengers) or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by sea has been widely used throu ...

and

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

Head of the Secretariat for Long-Term Planning 1980–1981

From 1 January 1980 Kleppe was assigned the inaugural leader of the Secretariat for Long-Term Planning, under the cabinet Nordli until 4 February 1981. He continued in this position under

Brundtland's First Cabinet Brundtland's First Cabinet was a minority, Labour Government of Norway. It succeeded the Labour Cabinet Nordli, and sat between 4 February and 14 October 1981. The cabinet was the first in Norwegian history to be led by a woman. It was replaced ...

until 14 October 1981.

General secretary of EFTA 1981–1988

In 1981 Kleppe took over as general secretary of the

, succeeding Swiss . He held this position until 1988, when he was succeeded by Austrian Georg Reisch.

Later years

After he left his position at EFTA in 1988, Kleppe was assigned with the

Fafo Foundation The Fafo Research Foundation, also known as the Fafo Foundation or just Fafo ( no, Forskningsstiftelsen Fafo), is a Norwegian research foundation and owner of the research institute: The ''Fafo Institute for Labour and Social Research.'' The inst ...

. He also chaired several government commissions in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including the Monetary and Credit Commission (1987–1989), the Employment Commission (1991–1992), and the State Bank Commission (1994–1995). He wrote the books ''Norges vei til Europa'' (1989) and ''Visjonen og hverdagen'' (1990), and finally his memoirs/autobiography, ''Kleppepakke'', which was released in 2003.

Legacy and death

Kleppe was a member of the

Norwegian Research Council for Science and the Humanities The Norwegian Research Council for Science and the Humanities (Norges almenvitenskapelige forskningsråd, NAVF) was one of Norway's five research councils. It was established in 1949. NAVF was responsible for funding the natural sciences. In 1993, t ...

(a precursor of Research Council of Norway). He was decorated with the Grand Cross of the Portuguese Order of Christ (1978), the Order of the Yugoslav Flag with Golden Star on Cravat (III rank) (1987), the Grand Cross of the Icelandic Order of the Falcon (1988), the Grand Cross of the Swedish Order of the Polar Star (1988), and the Grand Cross of the

Order of the Lion of Finland The Order of the Lion of Finland ( fi, Suomen Leijonan ritarikunta; sv, Finlands Lejons orden) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty and the Order of the White Rose of Finland. The President o ...

(1988). He was decorated Commander with Star of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II ...

in 1989. Kleppe died on 10 March 2021, aged 97.

Selected works

* * * * * * * Autobiography.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kleppe, Per Andreas 1923 births 2021 deaths Deputy members of the Storting Norwegian state secretaries Ministers of Finance of Norway Ministers of Trade and Shipping of Norway Labour Party (Norway) politicians University of Oslo alumni Norwegian economists Politicians from Oslo Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal) Recipients of the Order of the Falcon Order of the Polar Star Order of Saint Olav Recipients of the Order of the Lion of Finland