Leszek Balcerowicz named a recipient of the 2014 Milton Friedman Prize

We are proud to inform that Cato Institute announced that Leszek Balcerowicz, former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Poland, as well as a Member of CASE Supervisory Council, will receive the 2014 Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, biennial award presented to an individual for achievement in promoting freedom and individual liberty.

“Leszek Balcerowicz’s contributions to the advancement of liberty and free markets in Eastern Europe cannot be overstated,” said Cato CEO John Allison.  “Poland now serves as a model that other countries may follow in transitioning from socialism to a humane economy based on individual responsibility and the rule of law.”
 

As the Wall Street Journal noted, “As an economic crisis manager, Leszek Balcerowicz has few peers. When communism fell in Europe, he pioneered ‘shock therapy’ to slay hyperinflation and build a free market. In the late 1990s, he jammed a debt ceiling into his country’s constitution, handcuffing future free spenders. When he was central-bank governor from 2001 to 2007, his hard-money policies avoided a credit boom and likely bust.”
 

Established in 2002 and presented every two years, the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty is the leading international award for significant contributions to advancing individual liberty.
 

Previous winners include Chinese economist Mao Yushi; Iranian writer and journalist, Akbar Ganji; leader of a Venezuelan pro-democracy movement, Yon Goicoechea; former Prime Minister of Estonia Mart Laar; Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto; and the late British economist Peter Bauer.

Leszek Balcerowicz was chosen to receive the award from a public, worldwide nomination process. The members of the 2014 International Selection Committee are:
•    John A. Allison, President and CEO, The Cato Institute
•    David Friedman, Professor of Law, Santa Clara University
•    Giancarlo Ibárgüen, Board of Trustees, Universidad Francisco Marroquín, Guatemala
•    Václav Klaus, Distinguished Senior Fellow, Cato Institute and Former President, Czech Republic
•    Mao Yushi, Economist; Recipient, 2012  Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, China
•    Leo Melamed, Chairman Emeritus, CME Group and Chairman, Melamed & Associate
•    Mary Anastasia O’Grady, Member, Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
•    Parth Shah, Founder & President, Centre for Civil Society, India
•    Vernon L. Smith, Nobel laureate, Professor of Economics and Law, Chapman University

To find out more about the award go here.