Thorkil Kristensen

Thorkil Kristensen (born October 9, 1899 in Fløjstrup , Vejle , Denmark , † June 26, 1989 ) was a Danish politician of the Venstre . He was Denmark's Minister of Finance from 1945-47 and from 1950-53.

biography

Kristensen graduated in 1919 first the business school and then the Community College of Askov . After obtaining the Baccalauréat in 1922, he studied political science and economics at the University of Copenhagen and graduated in 1927.

He then became an assistant professor at the Aarhus School of Economics and at the University of Copenhagen in 1927 . In 1939 he was appointed professor of economics, business and industry at Aarhus University , where he worked until he was appointed professor at Copenhagen Business School in 1947.

In addition, he began a political career in 1945 with the election of the Members of the Folketing in which he interests of up to 1960 right - liberal Venstre represented.

On November 7, 1945 appointed him Prime Minister Knud Kristensen for Finance Denmark . He held this office until the end of Kristensen's tenure on November 13, 1947.

When a social democratic government took office, Hans Christian Hansen became the new finance minister, while Kristensen moved to the Folketing Finance Committee from 1947 to 1949. From 1949 to 1958 he was a member of the Constituent Assembly of the Council of Europe , and from 1948 to 1960 President of the Foreign Policy Society.

On October 30, 1950, he was again Minister of Finance and was a member of Prime Minister Erik Eriksen's cabinet until the end of his term on September 30, 1953. During this time he introduced a far-reaching austerity program to fight inflation and was nicknamed "Thorkil Livrem" for it.

From 1953 to 1960 he was again a member of the Finance Committee and at the same time the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Folketing and a member of the Nordic Council . He was also President of the National Association for Combating Unemployment from 1956 to 1960 and also a member of the Insurance Council from 1958 to 1960.

In 1960 he succeeded René Sergent as Secretary General of the OECD . He held this post until his replacement by Emiel van Lennep on September 30, 1969. Towards the end of his term in office he tried in February 1969 to avert a sterling crisis in the United Kingdom by extending the repayment deadlines for loans .

In 1970 he was the founder of the Institute for Future Research (Instituttet for Fremtidsforskning) and was its director until 1988. In this function, he warned in November 1984 against further cuts in the government of Prime Minister Poul Schlueter , as he "had already gone to the limit with his spending cuts. One step further and the welfare state as we have come to know it is the devil".

Publications

In addition to his scientific and political activities, he was also the author of numerous specialist books. His most famous publications include:

“Danmarks Driftsregnskab”, 1930 (National accounting in Denmark)
“En Sikringsfond for Indskud i Sparekasser”, 1931 (deposit of guaranteed government bonds in savings banks)
“Undersøgelser af communal Skattespørgsmaal”, 1935 (study of communal tax matters)
“Faste og variable Omkostninger”, 1939 (constant and variable costs)
“Haandbog i Kredit- og hypoteksforeningsspørgsmaal”, 1944 (Handbook of Real Estate Credit Matters)
“De Europaciske markedsplaner”, 1958 (planning the European market)
“The Economic World Balance”, 1960.

Web links

Individual evidence

personal data
SURNAME	Kristensen, Thorkil
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Danish politician (Venstre), member of the Folketing
DATE OF BIRTH	October 9, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH	Fløjstrup , Vejle , Denmark
DATE OF DEATH	June 26, 1989

[1] DER SPIEGEL: "Inflation: Through the Back Door" (No. 13/1951)

[2] DER SPIEGEL: "England / Debt Settlement: Last Payday" (No. 9/1969)

[3] DER SPIEGEL: "Denmark: Sunny Days" (No. 45/1984)