Jože Mencinger (5 March 1941 – 26 August 2022) was a Slovenian lawyer, economist, and politician. Mencinger was born in

Jesenice Jesenice (, ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru'', vol. 6: Kranjsko. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 144.) is the tenth-largest town in Slovenia, located in the traditional province of Upper C ...

, Slovenia, then part of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

. After finishing the study of law at the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...

in 1964, he obtained an MA at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

Law School A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

in 1966. He obtained his PhD at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1975. In May 1990, he was appointed

Minister of Economy A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

in the first democratically elected Slovenian government. In

Lojze Peterle Alojz "Lojze" Peterle (born 5 July 1948) is a Slovenian politician. He is a member of New Slovenia, part of the European People's Party. He served as Prime Minister of Slovenia from 1990 to 1992, Leader of the Christian Democrats from the found ...

's cabinet, he served as Vice President of the Government for Economic Coordination from 1990 to 1991 (as a member of the Slovenian Social Democratic Union). In May 1991, he resigned because of disagreements on the model of privatization of the economy to be followed in Slovenia. Soon afterwards, he quit the Slovenian Social Democratic Union. In 1992, he became a member of the Democratic Party. After the party's failure to gain parliamentary representation in the 1996 elections, he quit politics. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he came back to the public life as a strong critic of Slovenia's membership in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. In the mid-2000s, he engaged in frequent and virulent polemics with the younger generation of Slovenian liberal and

neo-liberal Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...

economists ( Mičo Mrkaić, Jože P. Damijan, Sašo Polanec,

Igor Masten Igor may refer to: * Igor (given name), an East Slavic given name and a list of people with the name Arts, entertainment, and media *Igor (character), a stock character * Igors (''Discworld''), a fictional humanoid family in the ''Discworld'' ...

Janez Šušteršič Janez may refer to: People: * Janez (given name), a Slovene given name * Janež, a Slovene surname In music: * Janez Detd., a Belgian rock band May also refer to a semi-pejorative term used in the Croatian North and beyond for Slovenes Th ...

). Between 2004 and 2008, he frequently criticized the liberal economic policies of

Janez Janša Ivan Janša (; born 17 September 1958), better known as Janez Janša (), is a Slovenian politician who served three times as a prime minister of Slovenia, a position he had held from 2004 to 2008, from 2012 to 2013, and from 2020 to 2022. Since ...

's center-right government. Between 2001 and 2005, he served as rector of the

. Mencinger was also a member of the Slovenian National Council for 5 years. He was a member of the

European Academy of Sciences and Arts The European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA, ) is a transnational and interdisciplinary network, connecting about 2,000 recommended scientists and artists worldwide, including 38 Nobel Prize laureates. The European Academy of Sciences and ...

and received the Golden Order of Freedom of the Republic of Slovenia. He also commented on the experience of privatization in Slovenia during the post-communist era. Mencinger appeared in

Boris Malagurski Boris Malagurski ( sr-Cyrl, Борис Малагурски; born 11 August 1988) is a Serbian-Canadian film director, producer, writer, political commentator, television host, and activist. His films include the documentary series '' The Weig ...

's documentary film ''

The Weight of Chains ''The Weight of Chains'' is a 2010 Canadian documentary film directed by Boris Malagurski.European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. In 2014, he was chosen to head the

Positive Slovenia Positive Slovenia (, PS) was a centre-left political party in Slovenia, following April 2014 led by founder Zoran Janković. The party was founded under the name ''Zoran Janković's List – Positive Slovenia''. It was renamed to ''Positive ...

's list of candidates to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

.RTVSLO.si – Pozitivna Slovenija 25. aprila na kongres. Jože Mencinger nosilec liste.
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Notes and references

External links

Jože Mencinger, PhD, Professor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mencinger, Joze 1941 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Slovenian economists Heads of universities in Slovenia Yugoslav lawyers University of Ljubljana alumni University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts Recipients of the Order of Freedom of the Republic of Slovenia University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Positive Slovenia politicians Deputy prime ministers of Slovenia Members of the National Council (Slovenia) Slovenian Democratic Party politicians Democratic Party of Slovenia politicians People from Jesenice, Jesenice 21st-century Slovenian economists