13 Facts About Leszek Balcerowicz

Leszek Henryk Balcerowicz is a Polish economist, statesman, and Professor at Warsaw School of Economics.

Leszek Balcerowicz served as Chairman of the National Bank of Poland and twice as Deputy Prime Minister of Poland.

Leszek Balcerowicz was a member of the Polish communist party from 1969 until the declaration of martial law in Poland, in 1981.

Leszek Balcerowicz was a columnist for Wprost, a Polish news magazine.

Leszek Balcerowicz was a member of the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, an independent initiative hosted by the UNDP and the first global initiative to focus specifically on the link between exclusion, poverty and the law.

Leszek Balcerowicz is a member of the influential Washington-based financial advisory body, the Group of Thirty, and is a board member of renowned Washington, DC think-tank the Peterson Institute.

Since 11 June 2008 Leszek Balcerowicz has been a member of the board of Bruegel, the Brussels-based think tank on international economics.

Leszek Balcerowicz is a recipient of the Chilean Order of Merit.

The Leszek Balcerowicz Plan was a series of reforms, which brought the end to hyperinflation, dismantled inefficient economic structures, and balanced the national budget.

In 1998, Leszek Balcerowicz was awarded the Euromoney Finance Minister of the Year Award for his accomplishments as a finance minister.

Polish economist Tadeusz Kowalik argues that Leszek Balcerowicz's reforms were a failure, stating that the good economic performance of Poland in comparison to other post-communist Poland was caused by much better initial economic conditions.

Populist politician Andrzej Lepper, the leader of the populist Self-Defense party, created the slogan: "Leszek Balcerowicz must go", echoing the disgruntlement felt by some Poles with Leszek Balcerowicz's plan.

Leszek Balcerowicz has many followers among East European economists, most prominently Simeon Djankov, Deputy prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Bulgaria between 2009 and 2013.