Jacek Rostowski

Jacek Rostowski
Minister of Finance
In office
16 November 2007 – 27 November 2013
Prime Minister Donald Tusk
Preceded by Zyta Gilowska
Succeeded by Mateusz Szczurek
Personal details
Born (1951-04-30) 30 April 1951
London, United Kingdom
Political party Civic Platform
Spouse(s) Wanda Rostowska
Alma mater University College London
London School of Economics

Jan Anthony Vincent-Rostowski, also knows as Jacek Rostowski (Polish pronunciation: [ˈjan ˈvint͡sɛnt rɔsˈtɔfskʲi]; born 30 April 1951, London) is a Polish economist, conservative politician, academic and former Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland.

Early life and education

Jan Vincent-Rostowski was born into a Polish exile family in London. During the Second World War his father, Roman Rostowski, served as personal Secretary to Tomasz Arciszewski, Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile and did not return to Poland after the war. In the 1950s, Roman Rostowski worked for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office with postings to Kenya, Mauritius and the Seychelles where Jacek Rostowski spent much of his childhood. Jan's grandfather was Jakub Rothfeld (who left Judaism, changed his surname to Rostowski and regarded himself as a Pole), a professor of neurology at the John Casimir University in Lwów.

Jan Vincent-Rostowski attended Westminster School in London, followed by undergraduate and postgraduate studies at University College London (UCL) and the London School of Economics (LSE).

Career

Jan Vincent-Rostowski was a lecturer at Kingston University (former Kingston Polytechnic), then from 1988 to 1995 at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London. From 1992 to 1995 he also worked concurrently at the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.

During this time, together with Ljubo Sirc, Vincent-Rostowski co-edited the academic journal, Communist Economies (later known as Communist Economies & Economic Transformation and Post-Communist Economies).

During the early 1980s he was active (together with his wife Wanda Kościa) in the Polish Solidarity Campaign, a Solidarity support group based in London. From 1989 to 1991 during Poland's great economic transformation following the fall of communism, Vincent-Rostowski was an advisor to the Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Leszek Balcerowicz.

In the early 1990s Vincent-Rostowski also advised the Russian Federation on macroeconomic policy. In 1991, he co-founded the Warsaw-based Centre for Social and Economic Analysis (CASE), a think-tank designed to assist Europe’s newly independent nations during the transition to capitalism.[1] He was also a member of the Foundation's Council (he resigned from this post when he was nominated as Minister of Finance).

From 1995 he has been Professor of Economics and was the head of the Department of Economics at the Central European University in Budapest during the periods: 1995–2000 and 2005–2006.

From 1997 to 2000, Vincent-Rostowski was Chairman of the Macro-Economic Policy Council at the Polish Ministry of Finance.

From 2002 to 2004 he was an Economic Adviser to the National Bank of Poland.

In 2004 Vincent-Rostowski was appointed Economic Adviser to Bank Pekao. He left this post in November 2007.

Minister of Finance, 2007–2013

Vincent-Rostowski joined the Cabinet of Premier Donald Tusk on 16 November 2007, and served as Finance Minister of the Republic of Poland until November 2013. He was named European Finance Minister of the Year in 2009 by The Banker magazine.[2] In November 2012, Rostowski was cited by the Financial Times as the third best finance minister in Europe.

During his six-year tenure at the ministry, Rostowski oversaw an overhaul of the public finance sector, including a cap on spending growth and a decision to redeem sovereign bonds held by privately managed pension fund companies, a move that drew criticism from the fund companies and some economists.[3] As part of a cabinet shuffle in late 2013, Tusk replaced Rostowski with Mateusz Szczurek.[4]

Later career

Rostowski was a member of Britain's Conservative Party. In the beginning of 2010, it was announced that two months prior[5] he has become member of the Civic Platform party (PO). In the wake of the Parliamentary Elections of 2011, he became Member of Parliament, being elected from the list of Civic Platform Party (PO).[6]

In late 2015, Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz appointed Rostowski as her top political adviser.[7]

Vincent-Rostowski has published around 40 academic papers on European enlargement, monetary policy, currency policy and the transformation of post communist economies. He is the author of academic books including, Macroeconomic Instability in Post-Communist Countries published by Oxford University Press.

Political views

Rostowski is a believer in free markets, as well as a fiscal and social conservative. Taking a pro-life stance, he believes that in-vitro fertilisation should be banned; he is against same-sex civil unions, believing that the traditional family is a basis of society; and is against abortion.[8]

Rostowski supports Poland's joining the Euro, but in the wake of the European sovereign debt crisis, he advocates waiting until "the Euro has become safe to join". [9]

Personal life

Rostowski is married and has two children. He is fluent in Polish, English and French.

References

  1. ↑ Hilary Heuler (March 11, 2009), The euro enthusiast European Voice.
  2. ↑ "Finance Minister of the Year – regional winners". The Banker. 5 January 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  3. ↑ Marcin Sobczyk (June 15, 2014), Polish Government Roiled by Leaked Recording Wall Street Journal.
  4. ↑ Marcin Sobczyk (June 15, 2014), Polish Government Roiled by Leaked Recording Wall Street Journal.
  5. ↑ "Jacek Rostowski: Wstępuję do PO - jak się jest ministrem, to się należy do partii" [Jacek Rostowski: ascending to PO – As a Minister, he belongs to the party] (in Polish). rmf24.pl. 6 January 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "Jan Vincent-Rostowski". sejm.gov.pl. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  7. ↑ Jeanette Minns (February 12, 2015), Government role for Rostowski European Voice.
  8. ↑ Grochal, Renata; Nowakowska, Agata (28 June 2011). "Rekiny krążą wokół Platformy Noego" [Sharks circling around Noah Platform] (in Polish). m.wyborcza.biz. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  9. ↑ Jacek Rostowski (2 February 2012). Hard Talk (News interview). BBC News.
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Political offices
Preceded by
Zyta Gilowska		 Minister of Finance
2007–2013 		Succeeded by
Mateusz Szczurek
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