The Moneywasting Machine: Five Months Inside Serbia's Ministry of Economy

Dušan Pavlović took a senior position in Serbia's Ministry of Economy in 2013–2014, diagnosing the economic activity of the postcommunist government. He found that a coterie of tycoons and politicians live off the wealth of the majority of citizens and smaller entrepreneurs, while the economy performs below its capacities. Vivid accounts depict how privatization is administered and foreign investment projects are handled, and how party members, relatives, and friends are hired into public administration and state-owned companies.

Format: Hardback
Length: 156 pages
Publication date: 30 June 2022
Publisher: Central European University Press

Dušan Pavlović, a prominent economist, took a hiatus from his teaching duties in 2013-2014 to assume a senior position in Serbia's Ministry of Economy. During this brief period, he had the opportunity to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the economic activity of the postcommunist government. His findings revealed a troubling reality: a small group of tycoons and politicians exploit the wealth of the majority of citizens and smaller entrepreneurs, while the economy operates below its potential. In academic terms, this extractive economic model leads to inefficiency in resource allocation.

Through vivid, suggestive, and even entertaining narratives, Pavlović depicts the intricacies of privatization, foreign investment projects, and the hiring of party members, relatives, and friends into public administration and state-owned companies. He exposes how managers of firms seeking state subsidies resist the systematic screening of their businesses. Moreover, he highlights how the principles of Keynesian economics are distorted and misused to conceal deliberate fiscal mismanagement.

The book's significance lies in its ability to shed light on a phenomenon that is acutely symptomatic of many other European post-communist regimes of our time. Pavlović's insights provide valuable lessons and offer a critical perspective on the challenges faced by these countries in their transition to market-oriented economies.

Weight: 374g
Dimension: 159 x 235 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9789633864258