Jože P. Damijan (full name: Jože Pavlič Damijan) (born 14 January 1967 in Lomanoše,

SR Slovenia The Socialist Republic of Slovenia (, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Slovenija, Социјалистичка Република Словенија), commonly referred to as Socialist Slovenia or simply Slovenia, was one ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

) is a Slovenian economist and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. Damijan is a tenured professor at the Ljubljana School of Economics and Business (a constituent faculty of 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 ...

). Damijan briefly served as

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

in the First Janša Cabinet. In his ministerial capacity, he was responsible for "coordinating and supervising the country's development strategy implementation". In 2018, Damijan was a contender for the

Bank of Slovenia The Bank of Slovenia () is the national central bank for Slovenia within the Eurosystem. It was the Slovenian central bank from 1991 to 2006, issuing the tolar. Since 2014, it has also been Slovenia's national competent authority within European ...

governor position. In October 2020, Damijan was put forth by four left-of-centre opposition parties as a prospective consensus prime ministerial candidate for a proposed

technocratic government Technocracy is a form of government in which decision-makers appoint knowledge experts in specific domains to provide them with advice and guidance in various areas of their policy-making responsibilities. Technocracy follows largely in the tra ...

after Damijan and a group of prominent Slovene

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.Third Janša Government, a political project they termed ''The Coalition of the Constitutional Arch''.

Biography and career

Early life

Jože Pavlič Damijan was born in Gornja Radgona in 1967, to Jože, a

construction foreman A construction foreman is the worker or skilled tradesperson who is in charge of a construction crew. This role is generally assumed by a senior worker who is seasoned and competent in their field, but also capable of project leadership (oversigh ...

, and Marija, a cook. According to Damijan, his family was working class and politically anti-communist. The family was largely deprived of land holdings during the Yugoslav post-WWII nationalisation and collectivisation process, and discussions about the faults of communism were a constant in the family. Damijan attended elementary school in the nearby town of Lomanoše and lived with his grandparents during his early childhood until his mother could build her own house. From 1982 to 1986, Damijan attended high school in

Murska Sobota Murska Sobota (, Slovenian abbreviation: ''MS'' ; ;''Radkersburg und Luttenberg'' (map, 1:75,000). 1894. Vienna: K.u.k. Militärgeographisches Institut. ) is a town in northeastern Slovenia. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Murska Sob ...

. He graduated at the Ljubljana School of Economics in 1992.

Academic career

In 1992, Damijan became a post-graduate researcher at the Ljubljana School of Economics, later an international economics

research assistant A research assistant (RA) is a researcher employed, often on a temporary contract, by a university, research institute, or privately held organization to provide assistance in academic or private research endeavors. Research assistants work under ...

, and a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

at the Institute for Economic Research. He obtained a master's degree in 1995 with the dissertation ''An Analysis of Economic Characteristics of Small Countries in World Markets'', which was published as a book the following year. He obtained a PhD in 1998, completing his doctoral studies at the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...

in Germany. His doctoral thesis was titled ''The Influence of Economies of Scale on Foreign Market Specialisation''. In 2005, he became an associate professor of international economics. Damijan is a visiting professor at the University of Leuven, Belgium. Damijan is one of the most frequently cited Slovenian academics.

Political career

During the early-to-mid 2000s, Damijan rose to public prominence as one of the so-called ''young economists'', a group of Slovenian economists who advocated privatisation, liberalisation, and a

flat tax A flat tax (short for flat-rate tax) is a tax with a single rate on the taxable amount, after accounting for any deductions or exemptions from the tax base. It is not necessarily a fully proportional tax. Implementations are often progressi ...

. The ''young economists'' came to be favoured for political appointments by right-of-centre political parties of the era. Damijan has since renounced his earlier

neoliberal 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 ...

economic beliefs. In 2018, Damijan was put forward as a prospective candidate for the position of governor of the

, with the backing of left-of-centre political parties. Over the course of his career, Damijan has served as an economic advisor to various ministries of the Slovenian Government, and the National Assembly. He has also worked on international research and consultancy projects funded by the European Commission, World Bank, the United Nations, and OECD.

First Janša government and minister without portfolio

During the First Janša Government (2004–2008), Damijan served as the head of the governmental Board of Reforms, and as the vice-president of the Council of Economic Advisors to the Prime Minister, followed by a stint as

, responsible for development strategy. In 2005, in his capacity as the head of the Board of Reforms, Damijan tabled a proposal for flat tax rates and an increase of the

retirement age This article lists the statutory retirement age in different countries. In some contexts, the retirement age is the age at which a person is expected or required to cease work. It is usually the age at which such a person may be entitled to recei ...

to age 70. Damijan also envisaged the privatisation of

state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

s, and the "withdrawal of the state from the economy". The flat tax proposal encompassed a flat income tax, flat value added tax, and flat corporate income tax. Damijan advocated the introduction of flat tax rates to reduce the cost of labour, which was, according to Damijan, far to high given Slovenia's level of productivity, leading to detrimental effects on employment. Damijan resigned from his ministerial post in March 2006 - only 3 months after assuming the position - citing personal reasons. Damijan later revealed that he resigned because he grew disillusioned by what he saw as a

kleptocratic Kleptocracy (from Greek , "thief", or , "I steal", and from , "power, rule"), also referred to as thievocracy, is a government whose corrupt leaders (kleptocrats) use political power to expropriate the wealth of the people and land they g ...

administration, using their official functions as a "smokescreen" for personal enrichment with the aim of "never having to work again in their lives".

Prospective PM candidate

In October 2020, Damijan presented the representatives of parliamentary opposition parties with an initiative drafted by himself (and a number of prominent members of the Slovene civil society, including

Spomenka Hribar Spomenka Hribar (born 25 January 1941) is a Slovenian author, philosopher, sociologist, politician, columnist, and public intellectual. She was one of the most influential Slovenian intellectuals in the 1980s, and was frequently called "the Firs ...

Pavel Gantar Pavel Gantar, also known as Pavle Gantar (born 26 October 1949) is a Slovenian politician and sociologist. Between 2008 and 2011, he served as speaker of the Slovenian National Assembly. From February 2012 and to their dissolution in 2015, he ...

, Boris A. Novak, and

Slavoj Žižek Slavoj Žižek ( ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian Marxist philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, Global Distin ...

). The initiative called on political actors to intervene to halt what they see as an irrevocable drift towards

illiberal democracy The term "illiberal democracy" describes a Government, governing system that hides its "nondemocratic practices behind formally democratic institutions and procedures". There is a lack of consensus among experts about the exact definition of ...

underway under PM Janša's stewardship of the state. All four opposition party leaders endorsed the initiative. The initiative was entitled ''The Coalition of the Constitutional Arch'', drawing its name from the eponymous the post-WWII compact in Italian politics that ostracised neo-fascist political forces from government. All ruling political parties remained committed to the principal for the duration of the

First Italian Republic The history of the Italian Republic concerns the events relating to the history of Italy that have occurred since 1946, when Italy became a republic after the 1946 Italian institutional referendum. The Italian republican history is generally div ...

, ending when

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...

entered into a governing coalition with a neo-fascist political party in 1994. During deliberations on who could be the prospective PM candidate for the initiative to lend legitimacy to the political project, Damijan, as the principal signatory and presenter of the initiative, was asked whether he would be willing to take on the role of a consensus PM candidate. Damijan acquiesced to the request and become the favourite. Public opinion polling of the Slovenian public has revealed that a majority of those polled support the initiative, with Damijan enjoying significant public support as alternative PM.

Private sector work

Damijan, along with his wife, is a partner in the

professional services Professional services are occupations in the service sector requiring special training in liberal arts and pure sciences education or professional development education. Some professional services, such as architects, accountants, engineers, d ...

company Grant Thornton Slovenia, and has, in this capacity, worked for a number of state companies and institutions.

Personal life

Damijan is married to Sandra Damijan, a fellow economics professor and a corporate and financial crime expert. For over a decade, Damijan has been publishing a popular economics blog (one of the most widely read blogs in the country).

Political views

An economic liberal at the time of his ministerial work, Damijan has radically shifted his

political economy Political or comparative economy is a branch of political science and economics studying economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and national economies) and their governance by political systems (e.g. law, institutions, and government). Wi ...

outlook over the course of his life and career, coming to advocate a greater role of government in the economy. Damijan has more recently promoted such measures as increasing the minimum wage, a

universal basic income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive a minimum income in the form of an unconditional transfer payment, i.e., without a means test or need to perform Work (hu ...

, funding infrastructure projects with public debt, more stringent government regulation of the economy, and greater government involvement in the economy and financial systems. Damijan has questioned the initial wisdom of introducing, and the long-term feasibility of maintaining, the

Eurozone The euro area, commonly called the eurozone (EZ), is a Monetary union, currency union of 20 Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (Euro sign, €) as their primary currency ...

(at least in its present configuration), at times advocating abandoning the Euro altogether. In 2016, Damijan stated: "The Euro is dead. It was a big mistake. It buried European integration. The EU crisis would have passed quickly if we didn't have the Euro and the senseless rules regarding fiscal consolidation. The Euro should be dismantled in a controlled manner to mimise the fallout."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Damijan, Jože P. 20th-century Slovenian economists Slovenian politicians 1967 births Academic staff of the University of Ljubljana Living people 21st-century Slovenian economists